Seems to be missing on Pattaya shelves.

 

Which shelves you mean?

 

Makro doesn't sell it any more since months, and have it replaced with 2 liter sugar laden Coke.

 

Can't get my head around that, as i understood there was a sugar tax now.

 

So now I buy mine at Tesco, but I seen it at big c extra as well as of yesterday.

Makro quit selling Pepsi Max in Chiang Mai quoting "no demand" about 3 months ago, but still had Coke Zero (a much inferior product to my taste) up to last week at least.  Big C still has Pepsi Max but the amount of shelf space they give it is minimal and unlike most of the other large bottled drinks they have no multipacks on display.  The manager of a big branch tells me that (in common with most big retailers) they have to follow the planogram supplied by head office which, in the UK at least, is highly influenced by the marketing contributions the manufacturers make - ie in reality they buy the shelf space.

 

It beats me as to why there is some resistance to offering consumers sugar free alternatives when it's clear that the health of young people in Thailand is increasingly at risk and the consequences of ignoring the issue are there to be seen all over the developed world.

 

Are sugary drinks cheaper to make than sugar free?