# How much do coke or pepsi syrup cost and make **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-coke-or-pepsi-syrup-cost-and-make/218201 "2003-12-10T21:26:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-coke-or-pepsi-syrup-cost-and-make/218201/1 "2003-12-10T21:26:59Z")
In outlets with soda fountains im quite sure they usually use syrup that gets mixed with water instead of an already mixed liquid like they sell in the 2-liter bottles. How much finished soda (pepsi, mt dew, etc) can you get out of one package of syrup and how much does this syrup wholesale for to the gas stations and restaurants that use it. ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-coke-or-pepsi-syrup-cost-and-make/218201/2 "2003-12-10T22:30:47Z")
Call 411 and ask for a local Coca-Cola Bottling Company. Call the number and ask to speak to a salesman. Let us know if the syrup is still available. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-coke-or-pepsi-syrup-cost-and-make/218201/3 "2003-12-10T23:12:01Z")
Nice answer, **AcidKid**. Channel **Handy** much? Foutain soda dispensers do use a concentrated syrup which is mixed with carbonated water. I could not find a link that showed the yield or cost of a “package” of soft drink syrup, but I’m sure the cost is highly dependant on the quantity purchased. I know that in the final product there is about as much cost in the cup as in the syrup. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-coke-or-pepsi-syrup-cost-and-make/218201/4 "2003-12-11T00:04:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Doctor Jackson \* > \*\*Nice answer, **AcidKid**. Channel **Handy** much? > \*\* I think that’s unfair. He gave a far more specific answer. Anyway, this is a total WAG, but if it’s anything like the McDonald’s orange-drink syrup, it’s at about a 6 to 1 ratio. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-coke-or-pepsi-syrup-cost-and-make/218201/5 "2003-12-11T01:02:09Z")
When I worked at a restaurant, they paid about $20 for a box of syrup. The box weighed about 20 lbs, so at a 6 to 1 mix, that would be somewhere around 17 gallons of soda. Also, the water doesn’t come pre-carbonated. You’ll need to consider the cost of filling up a CO2 canister. ---
**Author:** ![flano1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f14d63/32.png) [@flano1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flano1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-coke-or-pepsi-syrup-cost-and-make/218201/6 "2003-12-11T02:07:06Z")
Yes, based on what they pay and what they charge, the greatest cost would be the labor of the person who pours it! ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-coke-or-pepsi-syrup-cost-and-make/218201/7 "2003-12-11T02:21:54Z")
From [My Coffee Supply](http://www.mycoffeesupply.com/product.asp?c=13) (yay Google!), it’s $7.42 per litre for classic and diet Coke. Interestingly enough, you can order it too. I’ve gotta get me one of those sometime. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-coke-or-pepsi-syrup-cost-and-make/218201/8 "2003-12-11T03:49:32Z")
It’s the paper cups that aren’t cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-coke-or-pepsi-syrup-cost-and-make/218201/9 "2003-12-11T04:28:50Z")
Using the price from **Rabid\_Squirrel** ’s source and **Speaker for the Dead** ’s approximation on the mix, the cost seems higher than I’d expect. 1 liter of syrup (cost: $7.43) + 6 liters of carbonated water (let’s just ignore the cost on this one) = 7 liters of Coke That’s $1.06 per liter of Coke if you just use the cost of the syrup. I can get a two-liter bottle of the finished product at the grocery store for as little as 99 cents, less than half the apparent cost of buying the raw material to mix later. Granted, the price jumps quite a bit when it’s served in a big paper cup with a scoop of ice, but it still seems to defy the “all-profit” assumption we tend to make. I must be calculating something wrong. D ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-coke-or-pepsi-syrup-cost-and-make/218201/10 "2003-12-11T04:59:56Z")
In the last hotel I worked at (In Chicago on Mich Ave) our cost for one 12 ounce cup of Coke (including the cup and extras) was just under 9¢ a 12 ounce cup. Which we sold for over a buck. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-coke-or-pepsi-syrup-cost-and-make/218201/11 "2003-12-11T05:40:33Z")
The “My Coffee Supply” prices are refills for [BreakMate](http://www.mrbreakmate.com/cpi/html/basics.html), which is a self-contained soda fountain, and apparently uses different syrup containers than regular fountains. The boxes I used were much bigger than 1 liter. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-coke-or-pepsi-syrup-cost-and-make/218201/12 "2003-12-11T15:43:50Z")
When I had to reload the fountain, there were three elements: the water supply, straight from the pipes (possibly filtered), the carbon dioxide tank, and the boxes of syrup. The box that the foil bag of syrup came in weighed around 40 pounds (WAG based on how hard it was to lift when I weighed 140). [This site](http://www.cokepubandbar.co.uk/lic_equipment_dilution_01.html) shows the bag-in-box mix ratios, and for soda it’s 5.4:1, and tells how many servings you get for a syrup box. Happily, [the front page](http://www.cokepubandbar.co.uk/lic_business.html) makes a pretty strong business case and tells exactly what the profit ratios are. Since this is a page _selling_ the mix, I suspect that certain convenient facts are left out, like overhead costs. I don’t know that this holds true here in 'merka, but it seems about right. The boss, who was understandably profit-minded, didn’t mind the help drinking sodas all night long as long as we were working hard (although he recommended that the cooks stick to water and fruit juice since we were in super-hot conditions). As for the labor costs, we actually had one employee whose primary job was to dispense drinks. She worked at near-minimum wage, and she probably dispensed 600 soft drinks in an average evening, so it’s entirely possible that paying her was the primary expense. ---
**Author:** ![Anachronism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Anachronism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anachronism)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-coke-or-pepsi-syrup-cost-and-make/218201/13 "2003-12-11T22:07:30Z")
I make deliveries to chain restarauts. The get charged ~$36 for a 5 Gallon ‘bag in box’ of soda syrup, that weights 40-50 lbs.