Not so irrelevant opinion: Premium Coke
It seems to me there is an opportunity out there. I’m going to turn a twenty-two year grip into a suggestion and an idea.
Here’s my problem. In many things we have the chance to have our say and don’t choose to - that’s our fault. In some instances we don’t have a chance to voice our opinions - at all.
Let’s go back to 1985, when Coca-Cola changed the formula of it’s namesake soft drink. Welcome, New Coke. Ugh. Nobody had a chance to really change the course of history on that one - even to this day. No you didn’t. Yes, I know Coca-Cola ‘Classic’ was brought back - I drink it often, but it’s not the original.
Personally, I think it was a staged event to make the switch from cane sugar (expensive) as a sweetener to the high-fructose corn syrup (cheap) we all know and love today. Don’t believe me? Fine, I have no proof to back it up, but there is a difference in the flavor from the true original, and what a great way to make the change and cut costs than to take away the real product for half a year and then bring it back slightly altered, but most people unable to really tell the difference.
At any rate, my point is that there is an opportunity for Coca-Cola (or any beverage manufacturer who has a similar opportunity) 
here to tap into a great new product. I want my old coke back, and I want it BAD. I’ll pay extra to have that original taste back - I’ll pay for a ‘premium’ beverage that is true to the 120-year old formula. And I want it only in 12oz. returnable glass bottles. Yep, old school all the way.
Hey, what a great twist of PR. Create a new (old?) product, package it in a ‘green’ (I hate that term) reusable (and recyclable) container, reach out to their oldest and most loyal customers (an already established market), and charge extra to do it.
Am I in the wrong here? With the custom, gourmet, and premium beverage markets that abound today, how hard would it be for a company like Coca-Cola to do this?
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Comments
Comment by Rick Mahn Once in a great while you can find it around the states too. Most years, there is a limited run of “kosher coke”, specifically for the Passover holiday, and available in a few large cities. I had forgotten to mention that in the post, but here are a couple of links on it.
- Kosher for Passover Coke: Its the Real Thing Baby
- KOSHER COKE A BIG HIT
- Kosher Coke Smackdown
- Sugar rush - the craze for kosher Coke
The last one also points out that Coke in the UK is sweetened with sugar. Hmm, wonder what the shipping costs for a pallet of coke is from London…
I’d buy it, if for nothing else to see what the taste difference is btwn cane sugar and HFCS. I know you can still get cane sugar sweetened coke in other parts of the world, and people go nutty over it!