Coca Cola Wars in Britain
 

About a year ago, I posted some observations regarding the increasing number of convenience stores in London selling Coke Light instead of Diet Coke. Well I just got back from London and took a closer look at the situation and boy am I amzed or scared or something for folks in Britain.

In every place where there was Coke Light displayed instead of Diet Coke, I took a close look at the coke bottles as well as the Sprite bottles. You know what these whatevers are doing? They're sticking stickers over the printing on the side of the label where the ingredients are. What is being covered up in many cases is lettering that looks to me like it is Indian or Pakistani in natujre.

In other words coke products from the middle east made with heaven only knows what kind of water, is travelling long distances in heaven only knows what condition to end up in London stores and then is being priced at the same price as stores that sell the products that are made in Britain with none of this subterfuge. I even saw on one bottle the notation made in Georgia and I am sure they did not mean Atlanta Georgia.

I am wondering if tourists and Brits alike are

a) aware of what is going on

b) have any fear of drinking coca cola products brought in from the middle east

c) don't give a damn as they won't touch coca cola products at all

I know I would probably not buy any coca cola product in London with any of these labels placed on them.

For some non believers, next time you are in a convenience store in London if you see that in the display there are 500 ml bottles of coca cola light as opposed to diet coke, take a close look at the labels on these and other coca cola products. It might give you pause in buying the stuff.

And I wonder if the British government consumer affair bureaus are aware of this.

Not a worldly discourse no doubt but an importnat one at that.

The surgar free version of Coke has been marketed as Coca Cola Lite in Europe for years . . the word "Diet" has a medicinal connocation and is usually avoided in marketing of any food product.

Rich

All through Europe and South America Diet Coke is known as Coke Light.

If you ask for Diet Coke you will frequently get a blank look.:-B

Believe me, I know that. Like I said about a year ago, I started a thread. Personally, I don't like the tast of Coca Cola Light as compared to Diet Coke bugt you missed the point I was trying to make.

In the UK, it is called Diet coke and it tastes exactly like the diet coke I buy in the US. Personally, during the last week my biggest problem is I like Diet Vanilla coke at home and many stores, even those carrying Diet Coke (as opposed to the imported garbage) did not have Vanilla Diet Coke (they had Diet Coke with lemon a great deal) but again if the can says Coca Cola Light, it was not made in the UK, it was imported from some place and not just nearby countries like Germany or France or Spain. Take a close look at the bottles, look under the labels they are sticking on and see all sorts of strange looking language. It's not the Cyrillic alphabet, it's not Greek, it looks like Pakastani or arabic writing. Why would they import coke products from there? And how safe is the water being used? Those are the questions.

Again, I'd love to hear from Brits whether they or the consumer affairs departments in Britain are aware of this and whether they think there is a safety issue involved. I know I wouldn't dare drink any of that garbage.

I understand that with a bottle of regular coke, if you put a tooth in it and leave it overnight, the tooth will be gone in the morning. Completely dissolved.

Can Diet or Light Coke do the same?

If so, then I wouldn't worry too much where the bottle comes from. Nothing could survive in that Coke bottle anyhow. :(

If you're worried about the coca cola being produced in the Middle East, never fear as Georgia is in Central Asia.

Put a tooth into any acidic product and it will be disolved. But you still use acid products to brush your teeth because it gets the food particles first!

I don't drink regular coke anymore because of the sugar...I do drink diet coke. Personally I would prefer to drink a nice pint of Guiness but doctors' orders and all that and to a degree I am addicted to caffeine!

But really, at least to this eminent person, it is absolutely not true that coca cola light and diet coke are the same product. They taste completely completely different (with the former having a vile taste at least to this coke addict)!

Whatever brand name this junk is marketed as, your underlying point is pretty obscure.

It's pretty unlikely this is fake Coke. Almost certainly the bottler in wherever can ship his product into the UK at a lower price than the British bottler (which, from memory, is a mostly-owned subsidiary of the Atlanta business).

So who on earth cares a rat's toenail?

If the local Coke bottler is so incompetent that he can be undercut by parallel imports from wherever, that's his problem.

If the Coca-Cola corporation is so incompetent at quality control that Middle Eastern, or Asian, product is "inferior" (a bizarre concept, but anyway), and that matters to you, then complain to the guys in Atlanta.

But to suggest that the British government should waste my taxes to cocoon the local bottler from competition...

Even by the standards of this meddling government it'd be insane. But it couldn't happen - partly because it'd guarantee the relevant department public ridicule. Both the tabloids and the papers you read without moving your lips would roast them.

But most importantly, because it'd be illegal. Hindustani Junkdrink Bottlers Ltd have every bit as much right to sell their products here as General Motors or British Petroleum. And no bureaucrat has the right to interfere with them.

It's called free trade. You might try it in your country sometime.

I'm with flanneruk on this one (although maybe a touch more diplomatic!)

In general/grocery stores in the UK it's increasingly commonplace to find "foreign script" labelling on all sorts of items from toothpaste to chocolate bars to (yes) soft drinks. I won't pretend to understand enough about economics or business practices to explain this but obviously it's connected with the freeing up of trade & customs barriers across Europe.

I don't have any concerns over either the safety or authenticity of these products as I am 100% sure that they are "officially" licenced. I would bet that drinking Diet (or Light) Coke will have the same effect on your teeth regardless of where you buy or drink it.

My only misgivings are whether or not the appropriate taxes & duties have been paid (which I suspect is unlikely in most cases).

xyz123:

You better not eat Barilla pasta or Lindt chocolate. There are *arabic* characters on the packages.

It is a common pracice to print labels in a number of languages in order to ease the logistics on products which will be exported.

In general I would be less concerned about the water which is used to dilute Coke syrup than about the syrup itself which contains substances not openly declared on the label.

I have never payed any attention to this kind of thing. But now I just had to go and check my Barilla-spaghetti package. And it has ingredients list in 14 languages and five different letters: Roman, Cyrillic, Arabic, Japanese and what I suppose is Thai.

BTW:

If you've never had the misfortune to be on the receiving end of a presentation from Coca-Cola's international management (and if you haven't, there's one blessing you can count), you might be unaware of the obsession Coke claims to have with its water.

Every bottling plant in the world, they proudly tell you, starts with an identical water treatment machine, bringing all water up to a global standard of pH, calcium content, purity etc etc etc.

So, Mr Retailer, they tell you, you can be sure that the Coke on your shelves anywhere in the world, from New Zealand's South Island to Kiruna in the Arctic Circle, will taste, and be, just the same.

The possibility that a bottler, anywhere, isn't running this machine properly, they go on, will pretty much get a Delta Airlines 747-full of Cokeheads to leave Atlanta at a second's notice. But it can't happen, because our quality control system will alert us instantly...

Is xyz123 telling us the Coca Cola Corporation has been lying to me all these years?

As an American living in the Middle East, I consume locally made products such as Coca-Cola Light, Diet Pepsi, Sprite Light, etc on a regular basis. Of course they're made locally - under license from the parent company.

Sure Coca Cola Light made in the Middle East may taste a wee bit different than that produced in the US. Big deal. But to worry about the water? Please. We're not talking about the Ganges River here, which is in Asia (India) not the Middle East.

Thanx to all for the responses although I never meant for my tone to produce such belligerent answers. I was just asking some questions that came to mind when I saw this.

Of course, there's also the question as to whether the transport of products over such long distances may lead to an alternation of taste as well as this business such as Budweiser beer advertising that all its products have a born on date so that the freshness of the product can be determined.

I'm sorry if my tone was too harsh for what I thought was an innocent observation.

Cheers...

As "single-serving" Coca Cola containers continue to become larger in the U.S., I find the little cans available in Europe to be an interesting curiosity. I brought a couple of the 150 ml size home last week just to show to people. (I think they're designed mostly for the mixing individual drinks.)

Well, I guess with a respone from the OP this thread is closed. But, just for your info, I work for an Australian oompany that was recently bought out in a hostile takeover by CCA (that's Coca Cola Amatil - ie. the holders of the bottling franchise in this part of the world.)

I just have to say that their marketing methods are questionable -interesting, but despicable. Not casting aspersions on the scientific quality of the water used - just on the whole ethos of selling a highly value-added product that has no conceivable value to anyone.

Who cares if Coke Light is not the same as Diet Coke?? Jeez - isn't there something more important, OP, for you to think about?

Seriously you went to London and as a pet project checked out the Coke and Sprite? You really need to have a word with your self. Your list of answers was one short d) I have a life

The tooth thing--you can do it with orange or grapefruit juice, too.

Why would anyone want to puta tooth in a glass of Coke overnight?

You put it under your pillow for the Tooth Fairy.

I suppose it's just possible that some people might prefer the taste of Coke to Steradent first thing in the morning....

I agree with Alice. There is nothing in Diet Coke that has any value. It is just a liquid form checmical compound used as a delivery system for a drug - caffeine. So does "freshness" matter?

And it seemed to me that the original post implied that there is a conspiracy rooted in the Middle East to sell a product that looks like Diet Coke but that may have been altered from the original formula in some way. Maybe the birth of another post-9/11 urban legend?

This is such a funny thread to wake up to! >:D<

I have a strange sense of humor anyhow, but this thread has me ROFLMAO at 6 am in the morning!

flanneruk: "Both the tabloids and the papers you read without moving your lips..." Good one! Somehow this woke me up and struck my funny bone 8}

ira: I forgot! :) Last time I checked my false teeth were still in a glass of water! Whew! Will put them under my pillow every night from now on!

xyz123: Thanks for opening up this thread! It's a great thread - and never mind the rudeness.

Phil: "In general I would...be [more] concerned...about the syrup itself which contains substances not openly declared on the label" The reason why Coke does not declare those substances is something legally called "a trade secret". If you have a "trade secret" you don't have to declare its contents, because - as in the case of Coke - if you declare its contents, then everyone else in the world can make Coke. Trade secrets is one of the stoutest pillars of Western capitalism. Try explaining this to all those "backwards" people in the world who don't understand trade secrets! :)

No I wasn't implying it was a conspiracy. Everything I said was an observation and no I didn't go to London to check out the coca cola situation.

But in all the responses, rudeness aside, I still don't get why a merchant would want to import coca cola products from the middle east, slap a label on it to hide the strange language when the local coca cola company does plenty of business in the UK.

Yes indeed taste is a personal concept I understand that and I know all the pitfalls of both coke and diet coke. I meant for a serious discussion of why this is happening...and moving these products over long distances perhaps in heated conditions might cause something to break down' especially in the diet sodas the artificial sweeteners are probably a whole lot less stable than natural sweeteners.

Even in the United States, coca cola is bottled by different companies. The holding company, Coca cola itself is located in Atlanta and I believe it ships the syrup to either wholly owned subsidiaries or bottlers under contract. It is possible, as I remember, to see where the soda was bottled by looking at the label.

Somehow I don't think it is a usual procedure to have a convenience store in New York import coca cola products from California.

It is just a case of curiosity although it may not have seemed that way the way I wrote it I wonder if anybody else has noticed this as if you look at a bottle of sprite, the letters on the front are clearly visible.

Please no more harpoon flinging on what was meant to be a light thread; even if I got carried away.

And of course, one wouldn't expect any other country to have the variety of coca cola products that are pushed off on people in the US. Here we have coke, caffeine free coke, cherry coke, vanilla coke, diet coke, caffeine free diet coke, diet cherry coke, diet vanilla coke, diet coke with lemon and finally the brand new diet coke with lime.

I am still waiting for them to come out with diet caffeine free vanilla coke with lime. That would be something to put on the label.

Cheerio

xyz123, I don't know why this strange importing situation exists, but you can bet there is some financial advantage or it wouldn't be happening.

As for the safety of these imported sodas, I'm surprised that no one mentioned the conventional wisdom: When you can't drink the water, drink a beer or a Coke.

Before bottled water became so universally popular, I traveled to many places where bottled soft drinks were the only non-deadly choices. The local stuff tasted like cleaning fluid, but the Coke was a great thirst-quencher. They must be doing something right in their water QC because nobody ever gets sick from it.

When I was on a cruise this past October in the mediterranean the minibar in my cabin was stocked with Coca Cola and Coco Cola light which had Duty Free on the can. I did not pay attention to see what language the ingedients were printed in.

Did you think that a retailer might want import a product that his customers would want? I have not travelled to England but I understand that there are a lot of Middle Eastern immigrants especially in London. Perhaps they want a taste of home? Especially if it is a different taste. There used to be (long, long ago) a pepsi light product sold in Canada that was not artificially sweetened but was just less sugared. I liked it, but apparently not many other people did.

As cheap as the ingredients are in the product I doubt if there is a real economic advantage as you have suggested. If it is coming in from another country there will be duties and taxes on it that the English gov't will insist on collecting.

Here's a thought from my twisted mind. Maybe the stuff was bottled in England for shipment to an Arabic country, hence the "foreign language" and then the bottler had an overstock or the contract was cancelled and so he(the bottler) stuck on a label in english???

John, not twisted at all. In fact, the more I think about it, the more likely your scenario seems. Since there's a sticker pasted over the original language, the products could easily have been meant for export originally.

John...

I don't think that's the answer for 2 reasons...

1. I looked closely at one of the bottles and it clearly said made in Georgia

2. Coca Cola ltd. in the UK does not make coke light....they only make diet coke. And despite what some others seem to think, they are 2 completely different products and do not taste anywhere near the same. The parts of the bottle or can not covered with the sticker are clearly in some language other than English

Well, since we are on the topic, I decided to see if there were any facts. Nothing about the mysterious labels, however, I did come up with the following.

Go to http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/index.html. Click to enter. A pop-up window opens. Click on Diet Coke from menu across the bottom. Click on Facts for window which will give a scrolling list of Diet Coke facts which include:

Why two names for the same product?
"diet Coke" and "Coca-Cola light" are both used for the Coca-Cola Company's one-calorie cola soft drinK. The reason? In countries where the word "diet" doesn't have much local relevance, or has different connotations, we use the name "Coca-Cola light".

How important is the brand to the Coca-Cola Company?
"diet Coke" and "Coca-Cola light" is the third-largest brand in the Coca-Cola Company, and the fourth-largest carbonated soft drink in the world.

Where can you get it?
"diet Coke" and "Coca-Cola light" is sold in 149 countries. In 103, the brand is marketed as "diet Coke". In 46, it is marketed as "Coca-Cola light".

Where is the brand most popular?
Top 5 markets are USA, Great Britain, Germany, Canada, and Brazil.

hi all,

Great Gads! Am I having a nightmare or what....I am gettin really worried that the next thing I will read will be something along the lines that coffee is a bad thing and should be taken off the market...gggrrrr....or chocolate cause cancer or constipation, therefore they need to stop selling it....double grrrrrrr.....

Not sell or want cola?????...okay, I can admit there is no nutritional value to cola...but you know, life is full of empty and invisable things that have no nutritional value...and make the world a better place.(um...like hey air maybe).. Personally I wouldn't want to be the next person in the room with "moi" if "moi" didn't have caffine in the morning....sure I would be a healthy longer living person...but that person standing next to me would die of an early stress related heart attack or gads...maybe even be drivin to the insane asylum.

so, please,,,super pretty please...if you want to keep your body a holy temple of nothing premade...pumped with processors....chemical free...that's fine. I personally am happy for you and hope you are happy person...just don't expect everyone else in the world to line up behind you.

Chemicals such as caffine are my friends. The lack of nutritional value in the soda fizz doesn't bother me a bit...and I want a bumper sticker to make it so....hells bells I still prefer sweet and low, thank you very much...Nutrasweet sucks a big one. (whining) I miss my old TAB! THE ONE TRUE DIET DRINK! THAT KEPT ME GOING! AND DIDN'T TASTE LIKE SWILL!

But seriously...xyz123...I got your point and agree that if they are going to ship in cola from another country they should at least be ethical about it and not cover up the orginal bottler. I probably would still buy it if that is all that is offered, but I would still want to know where it was made.

This thread cracked me up :-D !!
Here in Canada we have always had at least two languages on ALL of our labels (English and French, and this includes stuff coming in from the US - it is required by law).

Many corporations are multinational these days, and their products are made in many different places.
For example - we purchased some bookcases at IKEA a few years ago - and because we have so many books, we needed three, and came home with three identical boxes.
As we were assembling them, we noticed that one of the bookcases was stamped "made in Poland", one in Germany and one in the USA. You will be proud to note that the one that was easiest to assemble because all the parts were aligned with precision was the one made in the USA :-) !!

Coke does taste different in some parts of the world because of the sweeteners used. In the US, it's corn syrup. In Europe, beet sugar - which, to me, gives a much cleaner, crisper taste. I'm not sure what sweetener they use in Asia, but I do know that they use MORE of it, because Asians generally like their drinks to be sweeter (got this from a top manager for Coke in Asia, 25 years ago).


best regards,
Deirdré Straughan

http://www.straughan.com

xyz123 - "strange looking language..." - maybe to you, not to all.

Good for you...it was insensitive to say that. I stand corrected and apologetic.

When home in the U.S. we drink diet caffine free Pepsi. When traveling in the UK or Europe we ADAPT, which hopefully is what most good travelers do. Light Coke seems to be closest, and tastes fine! It has certainly never "hurt" us and is very welcome. It may be a "tad" off from what we are use to, but that is true with a lot or things overseas....and oftentimes things taste even BETTER. I've always thought and still think that Lite Coke and Diet coke are the same thing!!!

XYZ123, I had the same experience while visiting London in November 2003 and in February 2002. I always purchase Diet Coke at Sainsburys or another supermarket chain because I prefer the taste of Diet Coke to Coca Cola Light and yes, there is a difference.

I purchased a half liter bottle in South Kensington at a small snack shop near the underground station. I took one sip and knew that I had been fooled. My bottle was from Egypt and had a sticker over the ingredients. It was clearly labeled Coca Cola Light. I too wondered how it could be economically advantageous to import this product and then sell it for a small profit.

You are not alone in this puzzlement.

It always has amazed me, the passion for one soft drink over another. There must be parties where connoisseurs get together and sample different vintages. You know, the 1998 Georgian Coke Lite was superb.

I remember in my youth, while working in a fabulous fast food establishment, people would storm out when they discovered we carried Coke, not Pepsi. I know, the corporation was filled with tasteless cads, but did they have to hurt our feelings this way.

In the end, it?s inconsequential when, if like me, you are on a budget and are forced to drink the more reasonably priced fine British ales, porters and stouts. Ounce for ounce, they're a better deal and oh so much tastier.

Bill

Borealis:

The situation in Canada is not the situation being discussed here. I think Canadian law requires all labels on food products be in both English and French which are official languages in Canada. But the product is almost certainly being made in Canada and no labels are being placed on it hiding the country of manufacture.

I do agree and remember that Coke sold in Canada, at least when I started visiting the country about 30 years ago, that the coca cola sold in Canada was sweeter than the coca cola sold in the US.

xyz123,
You are correct about one point - Coca-Cola Light and Diet Coke are NOT the same thing. CocaCola Light is made with the same formula as another Coke diet product - Tab, which is still available in several markets in the US.
JoeG