Goliath Goes After David Again

And, just like that, it is gone. The good folks at Dublin Bottling Works are being forced to stop producing their Dublin Original Soda. Dr Pepper/Snapple has, once again, killed off the venerable flavour. Due mostly to the agreement they forced on DBW when they parted ways back in '12. Still a pretty sleazy thing, given the sheer numbers of Dr Pepper knockoffs on the market that they do not go after.
The good news is that this will have no affect on Dublin Bottling Works day to day operations or the other great Sodas that they currently produce. Do them, and yourself a favour and buy a bottle of their Soda or Root Beer next time you run across it. I certainly will. And I'll never knowingly buy a Dr Pepper/Snapple product again. In the battle between the mom and pop and the corporate Goliath I will always support the underdog and real Soda.

Sugar Gaining Ground

Add Snapple to the list of drinks abandoning HFCS for Sugar. Yeah, I know it's not a beautiful, fizzy beverage, but it's a sign of the times and it is owned by Dr Pepper.

Snapple, once the “official beverage of New York City,” is being redesigned — inside and out — this year.

The popular iced teas are losing the high-fructose corn syrup and the dated font. The bottles are becoming more svelte (to better fit into cup holders, which became a force after Snapple iced teas were originally introduced). The labels will also emphasize the green and black tea leaves used to make the drink. The changes are rolling out over the first few months of the year, and they are expected to hit New York in early March, according to Dr Pepper Snapple Group, which is now the owner of the brand.

Snapple, which once defined the genre of specialty tea, now finds itself fading in an increasingly crowded field of competitors. The brand, which passed through many hands before landing as part of Dr Pepper Snapple, went through a round of focus group testing over the last two years.

“Through that work we really found that Snapple had lost of its luster and had been replaced in the minds of consumers by other beverages out there,” said Jim Trebilcock, an executive vice president with Dr Pepper Snapple.

(For example, President Obama prefers (the more lightly sweetened) Honest Tea, and the White House is now stocked with his favorite flavors, Black Forest Berry and Green Dragon.)

Real sugar is replacing the corn syrup. (Sugar vs. corn syrup, by the way, is the difference between Mexican and American Coca-Cola.) In some cases, that has actually resulted in a decrease in calories.

The old ingredient list for Lemon Snapple Iced Tea: “water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, tea, natural flavors.” Calories: 200. The new ingredient list: “filtered water, sugar, citric acid, tea, natural flavors.” Calories: 160.

Now if only Coke and the other people out there would hop on the train.

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