Sweetening Up the Cola Wars

Coca-Cola's recipe in Mexico isn't the same as its US recipe. Fans of MexiCoke like the cane sugar taste, rather than the corn syrup-sweetened U.S. version. They also like the handy retro green glass bottle, a reminder of the days when soda pop cost a nickel.

Coke has been importing MexiCoke to selected U.S. regions for the past 10 years. This is the first time I've seen it in supermarkets in small New England towns, complete with Spanish signage (see photo).

For cost reasons, Coca-Cola considered replacing some of the sugar in MexiCoke with corn syrup--but fans objected and the cult product wasn't changed.

MexiCoke is often priced higher than regular Coca-Cola but as this display shows, promotions bring the price down and encourage trial.

MexiCoke's cult popularity hasn't escaped the notice of rival Pepsi, which is launching its own cane sugar-sweetened cola with a hint of lime, known as Pepsi Limon. Although Pepsi has tried lime-flavored colas in the past, those formulas featured artificial flavors. This time, the special ingredient is real lime juice and, of course, real sugar. Really.