Coke packaging changes spark consumer backlash

Food & Drug Packaging, August, 2004

Coca-Cola is using changes in packaging size to camouflage price hikes in New York City--a move that seems to be backfiring.

Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), the largest U.S. Coke bottler (in which a plurality of shares are held by Coca-Cola Co.), recently introduced 1.5-liter bottles in place of 2-liter bottles in the New York area, but kept the per-bottle price the same. Since the move, Coca-Cola has lost 4.3 points in market share in New York supermarkets, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Customers are "still complaining. They feel they're getting cheated," a Manhattan supermarket manager told the paper.

CCE also has used unusual packaging for Coca-Cola C2, the new "mid-calorie cola" that combines corn syrup with artificial sweetener. They have been selling C2 in eight- and 18-packs, rather than the traditional 12-packs, at prices that work out to more per ounce.

CCE says the New York pricing structure is an experiment in a market where its product had been underpriced.