Just found out yesterday in a meeting that we will be carrying all Gatorade varieties starting next year on our trucks. Anyone have any comments about this change? IMO, it's gonna be a huge plus for us commission based drivers. However, I'm thinking it's gonna be quite an issue when it comes to time spent merchandising. Especially in the small format grocery chains. Anyone got anything they want to share?

Also, from what I read in the article on the homepage, are Aquafina 24 packs going to bigger warehouses?

I was with Pepsi when they bought Quaker Oats and this has been planned for a long time.
Although a potential upside for comissioned sales it may actually shrink your territory for the very reasons you stated. Gatorade is a beast on its own in some markets. I know in the south in the summer it is a full time job in some stores keeping up with it.
Furthermore, the winter sales of gatorade are directly related to the temperature so your benefits from high volume summer sales may impact your earning potential in the cooler months.

I wonder where the dividing line will be - will small format grocery definitely be included? That could be interesting.

The Aquafina deal is that it will switch from DSD to warehouse delivery (like Gatorade is now) for case packs. Meaning it will come from grocery distributor warehouses (SuperValu, C&S, and so on), not from Pepsi warehouses.

Good move for Pepsi putting the H2O in the warehouse systme. They can decrease cost of warehousing and servicing the water set while also cutting the price to compete with other brands that are gaining traction in the price conscience category.

It seems the gatorade will obviously replace the pallets in the dist truck (and then some) but will add time on every stop for the presalesmen, merchandiser, and delivery driver.

Interesting to see how it all plays out.

We thought vitamin water was going to be so huge that it would upset the whole coke delivery system. Although we sell a lot it hasn't been too bad.

According to the article, it looks as if it's going to be distributed via DSD to convenience, UDS (up and down the street), and dollar stores. Maybe the grocery chain will stay as it is? Part of me says let's hope so, however the bump in pay would be very nice. I service 2 of the largest small format grocery stores in our territory (northeastern ND, so nothing like you guys down south), and they claim they sell a pile of Gatorade. Given the different sizes, packages, flavors, and other varieties (powder cans, powder pouches), the amount of time that will be taken to merchandise it all will be substantial.

I also wonder how things will go with pricing and shelf space? That will make a huge difference as well. Will we keep the prices the same in these channels, or are we going to bump them up? Wouldn't surprise me one bit if they raised the price (2 for $4 instead of 2 for $3). I don't know where we are going to cut the space back in some of these coolers, it's already to the point where the core flavors aren't even getting the space they deserve. Not a fan of a stuffed cooler, and I'm sure any driver or salesman can vouch for that.

Some companies will do the "drop" and not merchandise the stores. The merchandising for the coke and pepsi drivers is out of hand. There is nothing worse than filling an empty cooler while 3 employees at a pizza shop sit around and watch. Cvs and walgreens take forever.

For large format stores I do not see this happening..especially with Gatorade as I remember even Indra Nooyi being quoted as wanted to keep Gatorade through the warehouse system and out of DSD delivery.

Word is that it's NOT going to be coming off our trucks in the LF grocery channel. However, I have yet to hear anything about small format grocery. Anybody heard any more?

i heard small format grocery will go to dsd. its only going to be the real big players, walmart, kroger etc. regional big guys like meijer in the midwest will keep it too. but who knows, you might have to merchandise it anyway!