I virtually never drink non-diet drinks anymore, but anyone who can't taste the difference between Coke with sugar and Coke with High Fructose Corn Syrup probably can't tell the difference between aged cheddar and Eazy-Cheez.

I don't think the reason Coke doesn't market it here is lack of a slogan; as you mentioned, it's economic. If they did, Americans would vastly prefer it, and sales of Coke with Corn Syrup would plummet to nothing, which would cost Coke money. Of course, they could just switch to sugar anyway and hike the price, but then they'd have to mess with the Corn Lobby, and you do *not* want to mess with the Corn Lobby. They'll mess you up.

There was a stretch of time in the last decade when Kosher-for-Passover Coca-Cola was made with real sugar. May even still be in some bottling districts.

I don't see why Coca-Cola couldn't sell "Coca-Cola Premium" at a higher price point. I don't think they're scared of the corn lobby--the corn lobby doesn't stop them from using cane sugar in Mexico or beet sugar in Europe. It may be the aficionado population isn't sufficiently large to justify it, though Coca-Cola clearly isn't afraid of wide-ranging brand extensions or populating store shelves with lots of SKUs. Or, it may be that they do want to maintain the fiction that the product is universally equivalent, and the cost to puncturing that illusion outweighs the benefit of the revenue from price-discrimination. Or, finally, it may be that the taste difference comes from the glass containers, and glass containers just aren't politically acceptable.

They could sell it for twice as much, in the old glass bottles, and call it "Coke Nostalgia" or something.

The best ad idea for sugar vs HFCS I've heard is to have an empty table.

On the left, pour a small neat pile of brown sugar crystals.

On the right, pour a mess of thick HFCS goo.

There IS a market for sugar-base sodas, or at least there seems to be, as there are more and more of them in the supermarket isles. And not just at Whole Foods.

(I like Boylan's Sugar Cane Cola:
http://bevnet.com/reviews/boylans/
Tastes different from Coke (and Pepsi), but has a great cola taste.)

FYI, every year in the weeks before Passover, Coke still does manufacture a "Kosher-for-Passover" Coke that is made with sugar, not corn syrup (the similarity between corn and forbidden grains was close enough to cause corn products -- syrup included -- to become a prohibited food on Passover in many circles). How do you tell which bottles or cans are kosher and which aren't? Look on the label, can, or cap of a "Kosher-for-Passover" Coke and you'll find a distinctive "KP" or like mark (possibly even Hebrew lettering) indicating that it's "Kosher-for-Passover". Generally, however, you'll only find these formulations in the few weeks preceding Passover in kosher supermarkets or select grocery chains that service the orthodox Jewish communities.

COke with cane sugar is definitely better tasting...but those who agree are in the minority...
High Fructose Corn Syrup will be our society's next "nicotine" .......
It is highly addictive and gets people hooked on thier products...not to mention is the fastest way to obesity....
KRAFT FOODS uses HFCS in almost every product...It is owned by Philip Morris...so they found a new way to get people addicted and make money off us....Kraft Foods has aquired many other brands from Nabisco, Oscar Mayer...ect..ect .....and still aquiring...
Heck, what is HFCS doing in my Sald Dressing !!! In Hot Dogs!!! In bread!!!!
It's everywhere now... You have to make a great massive effort to avoid products containing HFCS...totaly sorrounded...
Your body will be much better off without the HFCS...

Chris

I found Kosher Coca-Cola at the grocery today. Yellow cap, marked KP. To my dismay it didn't contain cane sugar. It had Sucralose which is the same as Splenda. Yuck! Trading one poison for another. So am on the hunt for Mexican Coke.

Well I stand corrected - it contains sucrose not sucralose. Sucrose is the white table sugar? I thought the original formula had brown cane sugar.

Cane sugar, whether brown or white, is sucrose. Sugar from sugar beets is also sucrose. Same stuff, different plant.

Other large companies can make Kosher for Passover products available nationwide. Why can't the Coca-Cola Company?

Maybe they would find out regular Coke is "NOT the real thing".

I just got back from a trip to Panama and Costa Rica. Their Coke is made with cane sugar and is even better than Mexican coke I drank in Cozumel on the way down.
Also, you don't see anything about "classic" on the can. I went to the effort to bring a can back just for the label.

I would love to get my hands on some REAL Coke with sugar as I am allergic to corn and all corn derivatives, so it has been quite a while since I have had Coke. I knew about the Kosher for Passover, but have not found any. Does anyone know if I can order it somewhere? Is it too late? Also, for anyone interested, Dr. Pepper has 1 bottling plant in Dublin, TX that is the original bottling plant and they still make it with cane sugar. You CAN order it online. It is more expensive and you have to pay shipping, but for someone who can't drink sodas, it is well worth it as a special treat. And it is delicious!!!!

Horrors! I went to a grocery store that sells "Mexican COke' and suddenly IT is made of corn syrup as well. I am angry and feel that CoCa Cola Companyis finding another way to put one over on us. Has anyone else experienced this?

I believe this could be due to a WTO ruling, that Mexico can no longer tax soft drinks sweetened with HFCS, which previously discouraged its use:

http://www.geocities.com/jonclark500/stories/coke.html

Which begs the question - why is the US still allowed to have a tariff on sugar?

The article also mentions that FEMSA, the largest Coke bottler in Mexico, already uses a mixture of cane sugar and corn syrup.

That last post is accurate - the recent WTO ruling has destroyed Mexican sugar farmers. Mexican sodas in the glass bottles used to run between 90-110 calories (with sugar); the corn syrup versions are at 150 calories.

Coca-Cola in Canada is still formulated with plain-old fashioned sugar.

Paul

Where in Canada? I live in MN and would take a road trip in a heartbeat.

heck the price is sugar is still low, HFCS is so bad , the curve for obesity in the US follows it's use beginining from 1980 on in this country, drink a 12 oz coke in Mexico you feel full, drink a 32 oz big gulp and you can reach for another without problem. bring on the the sugar!
It does sound strange to say Mexican Coke.

Australian Coke is also made with real sugar. We just came back with one 250mL can and now we're sorry we did not attempt to bring back more. Anyway, it's delicious... Kosher soda is okay, but it isn't sugar coke. You can't find any beverages with HFCS in it in Australia unless you are buying an American bottled drink. I refuse to drink anymore HFCS.

I have some Coke from Mexico in my fridge right now. It was bottled in Monterrey and still contains sugar. Maybe Mexico is phasing out the sugar, but I sure hope not.

Coke does have suger in it because i read the label!!!!

If you are in the UK you have the best Coca-Cola, sweetened with sugar. The ingredient list you read was not bottled in the US. No sugar here in Coke!

I saw those skinny bottles of Coke in the Mexican food section of HyVee grocery (Omaha, NE) and wondered what the heck they were doing there. They were $1.69 a bottle! Then I remembered a Modern Marvels I watched that was about either sugar or junk food. Either way, I started reading the ingredients and the list starts with water and then moves on to sugar. I was pretty proud of myself.

I bought a bottle the next time I went to the store. It sat in the fridge for two weeks. I dont know why. I guess I was worried that I wouldnt like Original Coke anymore (I'm 41)

I opened it and started drinking. And then got online to research Coke with sugar and that brought me here! It is a familiar flavor and I love it!

By the way, it was about twenty years ago that Coke totally *ucked with their recipe and made "New Coke" (trying to mirror Pepsi's flavor) Us Coke drinkers must have made our voices heard...as they soon came out with "Original Coke". I am wondering if that was the point of the sugar phase-out?

And then they must have slowly mainstreamed "Original Coke" into being just Coca Cola again, as I dont know what ever happened to New Coke. (which I hated)

My mom thinks I am silly that I dont like Pepsi and that I love Coke. Try this experiment. Try drinking a warm Pepsi. YUK! Now try drinking a warm Coke. Ahhh...the burn.... Good way to clean off those decroded battery terminals!

I just receintly bought Mexican coke in a 12 once bottle at Sams Club Here in California, AND BELEIVE ME IT TASTS LIKE THE COKE FROM THE 60s and70s, So I bought 5 case of it in the glass bottles, and they had five or six palits of it, it costs more but you will know where that extra money went when you tast it. It was about $20.00 US dollers, For those of you who are in other parts of the country or in Canada Sams Club is a division of Wal Mart, California is not freindly to supper wal marts.

There are three things that I find interesting about this.
The first is that I think the reason Coke has a problem with moving bottles from Mexico into the US is more related to the loss of glass bottles from the Mexican distribution chain than the issue with sugar vs. corn syrup. In Mexico, when you buy a bottle, you pay the deposit on the bottle and generally return the bottle to the store from where you purchased it for the deposit return when you are done. If a bottle is instead exported, there is no return of the bottle and they have to make new bottles to replace the old. If you take a look at the bottles in which Mexican Coke comes, you will notice these are always really old bottles. They aren't making new bottles. I have never seen a bottle in Mexico that didn't look like it was made less than 20 years ago. Coke in Mexico is really pushing plastic, but there is still a high demand for glass and no supply for new bottles. They can't afford to send all the glass to the US and lose it from the Mexican supply chain where demand for Coke in glass is high. In the US, it's a niche thing.

The second thing that is important about glass vs plastic or cans has nothing to do with the materials themselves, but rather how the cola is blended for the respective container. In glass bottles, the syrup and the carbonated water are blended in the bottle. The end result is a drink like the fountain version. In the plastic and can, the formula is pre-blended and put in the container. You will notice that a glass bottle of coke is not as carbonated as the canned or plastic bottled version.
I hate anything from a can. I have a bunch of Mexican Coke bottles in my freezer, and sometimes I will buy cans of Coke and then transfer them to the ice cold bottle. Since I am in Canada, our Coke is made with sugar and when you transfer it to the bottle, you lose the can flavour and some of the carbonation. It's almost as good as an ice cold Mexican coke, but still it's not quite the same.

Of course, this brings me to the final point which is that HFCS is disgusting. It's in every product in the US. When I travel I watch the labels and avoid anything with that ingredient, but it's really hard to do. I avoid it not so much because of the flavour, but more because I don't want to end up obese like 60% of the US population. Portion size is one problem in general, but extra large portions of HFCS is probably only magnifying the problem.

Pepsi in Mexico is also better BTW. Recycling glass bottles is also way more environmentally friendly. Unfortunatley, people were too lazy to recycle the bottles, and the deposit was off putting to sales.

The quality of education is, is not lower than 15 years ago

We have coke in the old glass bottles here in canada, but im pretty sure its made with high fructose corn syrup as well, when i lived in germany the coke was much better

You can get Coke imported from Mexico from Costco Wholesale here in Northern California. Yup, the kind in the glass bottles with cane sugar. It's definitely a million times better than corn syrup coke.

I agree with other folks here that Cokacola should sell a premium version of their product made the old fashioned way.

I wonder with the higher cost of corn (due to the e-85 fiasco), will we start seeing more mainstream use of cane sugar?

For those scrolling through this page looking for an online resource to buy coke sweetened with cane sugar, here are some options for you:

1. sodapopstop.com Seems to be the most popular of the mix, but is also the most pricey. 355ml is $2.15/bottle, with a minimum $16.00 purchase, and the highest shipping charges I've seen.

2. store.drsoda.com Better cost for a 355ml bottle at $1.30/bottle, but you need to buy a case (24 bottles) for a total of $31.15. Shipping is more reasonable.

3. retrosoda.com The same cost for a case, but also gives you the option to buy just one 355ml bottle for $1.75. Shipping is comparable to drsoda.

4. dansodaman.com You need to call in your orders, so it is more difficult to place your order. However, this is the only site I've seen that offers sales of an entire pallet, with claimed discounts on the soda and shipping if you order a pallet. Seems promising since the regular price for a case is the same as drsoda and retrosoda, and an individual 355ml bottle is also the same as retrosoda (so, any discount would make it better).

There you have it. If you a truly nuts about cane-sugar coke, dansodaman.com should be able to get you the best deal (assuming you have an empty garage to stick a pallet of soda in).

FYI, as a former Coke manufacturing employee, Coke does make Coke with sucrose. The Kosher Coke has it. In certain areas, it is only made for passover, but in areas with large Jewish populations it can be found in the Kosher section. Look for an UP on the cap code....

Several months ago I noticed the Mexican Cokes that I have been purchasing now have an ingredient label that reads "sugar cane and/or high fructose corn syrup". There is no real way to know what I am purchasing. Like many of you I am willing to pay more for a premium product. I just found this site. Thanks for the info on where I can buy my Coke.

I can tell the difference in Coke with sugar. They could use organic sugar and other organic ingredients and market it's organic nature. I would pay more for that!

The reason coca cola is not selling Mexican coke is because they have always said that Coca Cola is the same everywhere... Not true. Coke in Mexico is largely made with cane sugar and Coke in England with beet sugar. It is easy to see that coke differs from place to place, however Coca Cola U.S has already fined many Mexican bottlers because their products somehow (bootleggers) ended up in the U.S. This problem is costing American bottlers millions of dollars, and the Mexican Coke bottlers are experiencing growth in sales revenue every year, since before the year 2000, it seems like the floundering economy is not affecting them as much. If coke decides to sell their cola made with sugar their credibility will be shot down, and thats bad pr for them. Thanx and Peace!

The reason coca cola is not selling Mexican coke is because they have always said that Coca Cola is the same everywhere... Not true. Coke in Mexico is largely made with cane sugar and Coke in England with beet sugar. It is easy to see that coke differs from place to place, however Coca Cola U.S has already fined many Mexican bottlers because their products somehow (bootleggers) ended up in the U.S. This problem is costing American bottlers millions of dollars, and the Mexican Coke bottlers are experiencing growth in sales revenue every year, since before the year 2000, it seems like the floundering economy is not affecting them as much. If coke decides to sell their cola made with sugar their credibility will be shot down, and thats bad pr for them. Thanx and Peace!

Actually in Canada, all of our "name brand" pop is made with HFCS - we just call it by a different name. HFCS is labeled as "glucose-fructose" in Canada and it is literally in everything - including Coke. The only thing it is not in that you might be interested in, is Heinz ketchup.

Here in Houston, Mexican coke made with SUGAR(thank goodness) can be found in most major grocery stores, especially Kroger in the isle labeled Mexican food. Also I have found it available in several convenient stores. I do not drink regular coke with HFCS. The taste difference is huge.