Airliners.net

I flew yesterday in a small Russian airline called Nordstar (Y7/TYA) on the route DME-MRV. I was served Pepsi (7UP was also offered, as well as water or juice).
It is the first time I notice Pepsi offered on board. Myself, I'm a Pepsi fan. But why most airlines serve Coke or Coca-Cola Products?
How is in other countries? I can't remember any other airline serving Pepsi (and I've flown in 59 airlines in the last 10 years)

Coca Cola has a very tight grip on a lot of categories I've noticed. Airlines, theme parks, stadiums/arenas, movie theatres, fast food chains, etc.

Wow you had to go all the way to an obscure Russian airline to get Pepsi. Didn't AA serve Pepsi for a while?

Virgin Blue changed to Pepsi just before the Virgin Australia rebrand. Only lasted about eighteen months before they went back to Coca Cola.

http://www.ausbt.com.au/gallery-virgin-blue-s-new-inflight-meals-by-luke-mangan

ericm2031 wrote:

Coca Cola has a very tight grip on a lot of categories I've noticed. Airlines, theme parks, stadiums/arenas, movie theatres, fast food chains, etc.

Pepsi has contracts with a lot of universities, and a good share of stadiums/arenas themselves. I actually had this conversation today with my dad in that Coca-Cola is shear brute-force brand recognition as their main driving sales factor. But if you look at the assets, PepsiCo has an extremely diverse portfolio of food and drink products that are wholly owned, ranging from Pepsi and Gatorade, to Taco Bell, KFC and others, and even Frio Lay and Quaker. IMO that much control (especially the restaurants) is borderline illegal, similar along the lines of Boeing/UA/PW in the 1920s, but that's another thing entirely. Take this FWIW because it's coming from a Coke guy!

Memories of Air New Zealand LAX Catering loading Shasta... it was disgusting... everyone handed it back.

eielef wrote:

I flew yesterday in a small Russian airline called Nordstar (Y7/TYA) on the route DME-MRV. I was served Pepsi (7UP was also offered, as well as water or juice).
It is the first time I notice Pepsi offered on board. Myself, I'm a Pepsi fan. But why most airlines serve Coke or Coca-Cola Products?
How is in other countries? I can't remember any other airline serving Pepsi (and I've flown in 59 airlines in the last 10 years)

Is there really any difference between Coke/Pepsi? Sugar water and carbon dioxide?

Vueling also offers Pepsi instead of Coca-Cola. It was Coca-Cola before they signed an advertisement contract with Pepsi, their first A320 with Spaceflex configuration has a Pepsi livery.

EK offers both, Pepsi and Coke.

Ryanair offers Pepsi for sale on board.

Last week had 2 flights with Vietnam Airlines, asked for Coke and received Pepsi. Also only Pepsi in their J lounge.

Thaigold

AS briefly switched from Coke products to Seattle-based Jones Soda as part of the "buy local, fly local" approach pitched at SEA customers. It didn't go over well, and Coke products returned.

Damnit, slipping my mind, but I can't recall if it was ANA or JAL that serves Pepsi Co. I want to say it is JAL because they have a contract with Suntory. I fly both equally and always struggle to remember which flights I can get a can of Mountain Dew on and which ones force me to go with the Sprite instead. (I like the sprite with dinner before arriving at TYO, but I prefer the Dew when landing at IAD to give me a sugar jolt to fight the jet lag)

Who cares? Revolting stuff; full of sugar. I have never seen the appeal of cola drinks myself. I'd much rather a dry ginger ale or tonic (with gin of course).

Besides, isn't Coca Cola one of those corporations we are supposed to boycott due to their dishonourable and immoral business practices?

Pepsi is much larger than Coke in Iceland, even though Coke is probably more popular. Most cinemas and restaurants only offer Pepsi, and FI is also all-Pepsi. The reason is that Egils Skallagrimssonar (named after a viking from Borgarnes, the place that the company is headquartered), a soft drink company that also makes its own orange soda (Egils Appelsin) and sparkling water (Egils Kristall) is the leading force in the market. I've also seen Pepsi sold on many mainland European carriers.

regards!
Sveinn

vhtje wrote:

Besides, isn't Coca Cola one of those corporations we are supposed to boycott due to their dishonourable and immoral business practices?

Who knows, who cares. It's a new company every week.

BawliBooch wrote:

Is there really any difference between Coke/Pepsi? Sugar water and carbon dioxide?

Yes. There's a big difference in taste and this includes other products (e.g. 7Up vs Sprite). I can drink Pepsi, but I much prefer Coca-Cola. As for airlines, in my last fights I've been served mainly Coca Cola products. On my last flight with AA, they also offered other things like Sierra Mist.

I flew Interjet last year Tijuana-México-Monterrey and return. Pepsi is the pop served system wide. I have a photo of the in-flight service but can't get it to upload from Chrome on Android.

AA used to serve Pepsi products but switched to Coke after the US Air merger.

dfwjim1 wrote:

AA used to serve Pepsi products but switched to Coke after the US Air merger.

As alluded to above though, it's interesting that AA serves Coca-Cola, but not Sprite, opting for Sierra Mist (a PepsiCo product) instead.

Can't forget the Pepsi Concorde.

Well, Taca used to serve ALSO InkaCola which is a popular softdrink in Peru, but they also offered Coke and Coke products. As far as the answers I've gotten, it seems most airlines serve Coke, rather than Pepsi.
They mostly also serve Sprite, and Diet/Zero Coke, and Water, and Sparkling Water. Fewer offer complimentary wine or beer, and even fewer liqueurs. I'm speaking of flying in Economy Class.
LATAM and Aerolineas for certain offer only Coke Products. Most of Russian airlines serve no soft drinks, but water or juice or tea. Maybe Aeroflot and S7 are away from this rule, but I don't recall their domestic product (I took both of them internationally plenty of times). UTair serves Coke, but as buy on board. Complimentary tea or water.

vhtje wrote:

Who cares? Revolting stuff; full of sugar. I have never seen the appeal of cola drinks myself. I'd much rather a dry ginger ale or tonic (with gin of course).

Ginger Ale has anywhere from 25-35g of sugar per 12oz serving, tonic water has 30-35g of sugar per 12oz serving. For comparison, Coca-Cola has 39g of sugar per 12oz serving. Pepsi has 41g of sugar per 12oz serving. They're all really high in sugar.

dumbell2424 wrote:

dfwjim1 wrote:

AA used to serve Pepsi products but switched to Coke after the US Air merger.

As alluded to above though, it's interesting that AA serves Coca-Cola, but not Sprite, opting for Sierra Mist (a PepsiCo product) instead.

Prior to the US merger AA did serve both Coke and Pepsi, as well as both Sprite and Sierra Mist. After AA merged with US, since AA was under contract with both Coke and Pepsi, US management is essentially honoring both contracts by serving Coke and Sierra Mist (now known as Mist Twst) by carrying fewer redundant beverages per flight. It is quite possible that once either the contract with Coke or Pepsi expires we could see AA drop one manufacturer's products and go with one soda manufacturer.

Quoting: "They're all really high in sugar." And it is usually known as High Fructose Corn Syrup - the scourge of all sugars as I recall.

XAMTO wrote:

I flew Interjet last year Tijuana-México-Monterrey and return. Pepsi is the pop served system wide. I have a photo of the in-flight service but can't get it to upload from Chrome on Android.

That surprises me because Mexico drinks more Coca-Cola per capita than any other nation.

NH serves Pepsi. As others here said, so does Interjet in Mexico. Someone correct me, but didn't NW back in the 1990's-early 2000's serve Pepsi also?

IAHWorldflyer wrote:

NH serves Pepsi. As others here said, so does Interjet in Mexico. Someone correct me, but didn't NW back in the 1990's-early 2000's serve Pepsi also?

Yes, NW served Pepsi prior to the DL merger. For a while DL honored NW's contract with PepsiCo by offering Frito-Lay snacks.

TWA772LR wrote:

But if you look at the assets, PepsiCo has an extremely diverse portfolio of food and drink products that are wholly owned, ranging from Pepsi and Gatorade, to Taco Bell, KFC and others, and even Frio Lay and Quaker.

PepsiCo has since sold some of their holdings in those areas (specifically the restaurant business), however yes: Pepsi is a far broader consumer packaged goods company than The Coca-Cola Company's 700+ non-alcoholic drinks.

eielef wrote:

Well, Taca used to serve ALSO InkaCola which is a popular softdrink in Peru, but they also offered Coke and Coke products. As far as the answers I've gotten, it seems most airlines serve Coke, rather than Pepsi.

Inca Kola is a Coca-Cola brand.

vhtje wrote:

I'd much rather a dry ginger ale or tonic (with gin of course).

That's fair. Seagram's is a good one in both flavors, which is actually made by Coca-Cola as well.

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.

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Full disclosure: I'm an employee of The Coca-Cola Company.

Jet2 sells Pepsi, Pepsi Max and Irn Bru*!

*Made in Scotland from girders...

1337Delta764 wrote:

IAHWorldflyer wrote:

NH serves Pepsi. As others here said, so does Interjet in Mexico. Someone correct me, but didn't NW back in the 1990's-early 2000's serve Pepsi also?

Yes, NW served Pepsi prior to the DL merger. For a while DL honored NW's contract with PepsiCo by offering Frito-Lay snacks.

They even went as far to put Pepsi stickers over the Coke labels on the McDonald's menu in the McNamara terminal. The menu is back-lit so you could still see the coke glass in the original picture of the meal, at least you could when I was there in 2010.

1337Delta764 wrote:

dumbell2424 wrote:

dfwjim1 wrote:

AA used to serve Pepsi products but switched to Coke after the US Air merger.

As alluded to above though, it's interesting that AA serves Coca-Cola, but not Sprite, opting for Sierra Mist (a PepsiCo product) instead.

Prior to the US merger AA did serve both Coke and Pepsi, as well as both Sprite and Sierra Mist. After AA merged with US, since AA was under contract with both Coke and Pepsi, US management is essentially honoring both contracts by serving Coke and Sierra Mist (now known as Mist Twst) by carrying fewer redundant beverages per flight. It is quite possible that once either the contract with Coke or Pepsi expires we could see AA drop one manufacturer's products and go with one soda manufacturer.

AA should definitely choose Pepsi. Their colors and logos are seamless. Within days of AA launching their new look, I thought their planes looked like a giant can of Pepsi Light.

afcjets wrote:

1337Delta764 wrote:

dumbell2424 wrote:

As alluded to above though, it's interesting that AA serves Coca-Cola, but not Sprite, opting for Sierra Mist (a PepsiCo product) instead.

Prior to the US merger AA did serve both Coke and Pepsi, as well as both Sprite and Sierra Mist. After AA merged with US, since AA was under contract with both Coke and Pepsi, US management is essentially honoring both contracts by serving Coke and Sierra Mist (now known as Mist Twst) by carrying fewer redundant beverages per flight. It is quite possible that once either the contract with Coke or Pepsi expires we could see AA drop one manufacturer's products and go with one soda manufacturer.

AA should definitely choose Pepsi. Their colors and logos are seamless. Within days of AA launching their new look, I thought their planes looked like a giant can of Pepsi Light.

If anyone should choose Pepsi for this reason, it's KE. Their logos are almost identical.

StrandedAtMKG wrote:

If anyone should choose Pepsi for this reason, it's KE. Their logos are almost identical.

Yes, KE should align their logos with onboard product.

Lightsaber

I can't remember this, but due to the history of Coca Cola's early investors also creating Delta, Coke was first served by an airline in 1941 and a lot of the distribution teniques was developed by Coke and gave them a edge over Pepsi for years.

Egyptair serve Pepsi instead of Coke. In fact, if my memory serves correctly, Egypt is one of the few countries where Pepsi is the preferred Cola drink.

1337Delta764 wrote:

dumbell2424 wrote:

dfwjim1 wrote:

AA used to serve Pepsi products but switched to Coke after the US Air merger.

As alluded to above though, it's interesting that AA serves Coca-Cola, but not Sprite, opting for Sierra Mist (a PepsiCo product) instead.

Prior to the US merger AA did serve both Coke and Pepsi, as well as both Sprite and Sierra Mist. After AA merged with US, since AA was under contract with both Coke and Pepsi, US management is essentially honoring both contracts by serving Coke and Sierra Mist (now known as Mist Twst) by carrying fewer redundant beverages per flight. It is quite possible that once either the contract with Coke or Pepsi expires we could see AA drop one manufacturer's products and go with one soda manufacturer.

As long as they keep Diet Dr. Pepper, I will be happy...