# Why does Coca Cola not offer a popular grape soda in the US **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 19, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820 "2011-09-19T13:40:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/1 "2011-09-19T13:40:05Z")
[Another thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14269587) talks about the supposed stereotype of black people loving grape soda which made me wonder why Coca Cola never had a flagship grape soda as part of it’s lineup. Yes, I’m aware of Grape Fanta but that’s always been a niche product. Given that Coca Cola was based in the south, why did it never try and develop and market a grape soda? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/2 "2011-09-19T14:56:24Z")
Coca-Cola uses the Fanta brand for all its fruit sodas. So they are marketing a grape soda. They don’t want to market “Coca-Cola Grape” because they don’t want the Coca-Cola name to be associated with any flavor but cola. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/3 "2011-09-19T15:42:20Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Coca-Cola uses the Fanta brand for all its fruit sodas. So they are marketing a grape soda. > > They don’t want to market “Coca-Cola Grape” because they don’t want the Coca-Cola name to be associated with any flavor but cola. Or cherry or vanilla. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/4 "2011-09-19T17:10:34Z")
Those are flavored colas, so it’s associated with cola. A fruit-flavored soda is not. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/5 "2011-09-19T19:58:01Z")
Yeah, I’m kind of unsure what you’re asking. The Coca-Cola company does offer and market a grape soda, under the brand name “Fanta”. It doesn’t offer a grape soda under its “flagship” brand name, “Coca-Cola”, but it doesn’t offer a lemon-lime soda, a citrus-flavoured caffeinated soda, or a root beer under those names either (it calls them “Sprite”, “Mello Yello”, and “Barq’s”.) None of those brands are quite as aggressively marketed as the flagship brand, but they’re arguably “niche markets” compared to cola too. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/6 "2011-09-19T20:08:21Z")
I guess I mean flagship as in, if I were going up to a coke soda fountain or coke vending machine, what would I reasonably expect to see there. Sprite & Barqs would count, Grape Fanta would not. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/7 "2011-09-19T20:10:58Z")
Or, put it another way, of all the black people who _do_ drink grape soda, what percentage are drinking Grape Fanta as opposed to Faygo or Nehi etc? Why did the Coca Cola corp not try and dominate this market as it’s tried to dominate every other market? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/8 "2011-09-19T20:12:47Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > I guess I mean flagship as in, if I were going up to a coke soda fountain or coke vending machine, what would I reasonably expect to see there. Sprite & Barqs would count, Grape Fanta would not. That’s really up to the store. If they want Grape Fanta they would order it. I’m guessing there’s not nearly as much call for it as the others. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/9 "2011-09-19T20:20:47Z")
Grape soda has always been a regional drink. Arkansas had Grapette and was produced in a tiny town called Camden Ark. It was hugely popular in the 1940’s and 50’s. Other states had their own grape soda companies. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/10 "2011-09-19T20:37:36Z")
Perhaps they want to keep the soda image on their already popular products. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/11 "2011-09-19T21:14:38Z")
Since this question seems to have been answered, allow me to follow up with; why does Pepsi not offer a grape soda? ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/12 "2011-09-19T21:24:24Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > I guess I mean flagship as in, if I were going up to a coke soda fountain or coke vending machine, what would I reasonably expect to see there. Sprite & Barqs would count, Grape Fanta would not. In North Carolina, almost any vending machine will have a grape soda. I can’t say this for sure, but I seem to remember Coke machines do (did?) not exclusively have Fanta as the grape option. I’ve seen Welch’s, Shasta, Nugrape, and Sunkist in vending machines in addition to Fanta. > [@Smapti](#): > > Since this question seems to have been answered, allow me to follow up with; why does Pepsi not offer a grape soda? I often seen Nugrape in Pepsi machines. Presumably for niche products it might be easier to simply redistribute a third-party product and take a cut of the product. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/13 "2011-09-19T21:35:54Z")
> [@awldune](#): > > I often seen Nugrape in Pepsi machines. Presumably for niche products it might be easier to simply redistribute a third-party product and take a cut of the product. Pepsi’s last big national fruit-soda brand was Slice (which had a grape flavor), but most bottlers have had to pick up third-party sodas as you’ve noted. PepsiAmericas has started handling nationwide distribution for the third-party Crush brand, owned by Dr Pepper/Snapple, and it now seems to be positioned to be the “official” Pepsi fruit-soda line. (Rather ingenious of Dr Pepper/Snapple to do so, as they have the Sunkist brand for fruit soda already, and recently revived Nehi in some markets… might as well license off the remaining brands.) ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/14 "2011-09-19T23:54:49Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Since this question seems to have been answered, allow me to follow up with; why does Pepsi not offer a grape soda? Where I work (San Francisco), Pepsi distributes Crush. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/15 "2011-09-20T00:31:37Z")
Isn’t Grape Crush Pepsi’s grape soda? ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/16 "2011-09-20T01:05:13Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > I guess I mean flagship as in, if I were going up to a coke soda fountain or coke vending machine, what would I reasonably expect to see there. Sprite & Barqs would count, Grape Fanta would not. The problem with soda fountains and vending machines is that you only have a limited number of positions available. Obviously, you’re going to have Coke, Diet Coke and Sprite, but after that, it’s pretty much up to the owner or operator of the machine what goes in the other slots. If they find from experience that they sell 1 or 2 grape sodas per week, but a lot of people buy Barq’s Root Beer, guess which will win out? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/17 "2011-09-20T01:25:35Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Isn’t Grape Crush Pepsi’s grape soda? Uh, I somehow missed that this was already mentioned. My bad. [Here is Grape Crush, by the way. Pepsi’s grapey soda.](http://rubbersnout.blogspot.com/2010/10/grape-soda.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/18 "2011-09-20T01:26:36Z")
[Oh, and Grape Faygo is the best grape pop I’ve ever had.](http://www.grocerycouponnetwork.com/images/food-products/Faygo_Grape_Flavored_Soda.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/19 "2011-09-20T02:01:35Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Uh, I somehow missed that this was already mentioned. My bad. > > [Here is Grape Crush, by the way. Pepsi’s grapey soda.](http://rubbersnout.blogspot.com/2010/10/grape-soda.html) Wikipedia tells me that Crush is owned by the Dr. Pepper-Snapple Group. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820/20 "2011-09-20T02:50:04Z")
In Japan, most Coca-Cola vending machines that I’ve seen offer Fanta Grape and sometimes, Dr. Pepper as well. Recently, Coca-Cola machines have also included Sprite and Mello Yello. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-coca-cola-not-offer-a-popular-grape-soda-in-the-us/596820.md?page=2)