Thailand's Cola Conflict: Est Vs. Pepsi

[silentnine]

was not going to comment on this .. lol .. however

was up country yesterday.. ordered coke lite at a resaurant.. presented with est in a glass bottle..

thought oh well will try it..

sorry to say it tasted awefull.. next time i would return it and tell them i did not order that rubbish

[catmac]

I've just bought two liters of EST at Big C because it was darn cheap - 18 baht per liter, even though the label on the bottle itself says 20 baht! Coke and Pepsi are usually between 25-30 baht per liter.

I still say it tastes just fine.

Don't know where you get your prices from, Coke and Pepsi are 23 baht for 1.25 litres in Big C which makes them just 40 satang a litre more expensive than piss Est.

Still, they'll be pleased to hear that one person in Thailand actually likes the stuff!

[siam2007]

nomen EST omen

[ignis]

Odd bottles and prices............

Could not find anything in 1.25 lt bottles...

Appear now Pepsi is 1,45 lt bottle @ 24 baht..........."new" 1 lt bottle @ 22 baht,....... small bottles @ 17 baht......

Coke Cola now 1.5 lt bottles @ 24 baht.. 1 lt bottle @ 20 baht,....... small bottles @ 15 baht...... All sizes on promotion

Could not find Coke Zero, or Pepsi Max in big bottles, only Max in 1 lt bottles.

Never look at Extremely s*t Taste bottle prices

Edited January 14, 2013 by ignis

[Mekong Bob]

I'm now pounding down "small" 550ml plastic bottles of PepsiMax, but longing for the days when we had PepsiMax in 325ml aluminum cans in Thailand. Sigh! Honestly, a half a liter of this stuff at a time is just too much. And all that extra caffeine in PepsiMax doesn't help matters!

What I really prefer is Diet Pepsi or Pepsi Light - the stuff sold in USA, Malaysia, Singapore, etc.

[hellodolly]

Things were bad enough with the disappearance of Pepsi-Max but now I notice there is no Coke Zero unless you buy it in cans.

Almost like Coke and Pepsi are in collusion to promote the sale of there sugar pops.

[CHRISTIANa9]

Just tried est awhile ago after all the noise in this thread. Yup its a bit flat unlike Ike or Pepsi but taste wise it's ok with me. Nothing special that I will crave for.

[connda]

I'm getting to the point where they all can screw their market share as I've converted to 20 baht fruit smoothies.

[hellodolly]

I'm getting to the point where they all can screw their market share as I've converted to 20 baht fruit smoothies.

Do they come in a six pack?

[kiwiinasia]

Pepsi tried to buy out Sermsuk for 29 baht and then when told 'too low', they sold their 42% for 57 baht.

The Thais did the right thing.

Then Sermsuk sucked up to Thaibev as they knew pepsi were selling out to Thaibev.

They planned for the departure of Pepsi, WOULDN'T YOU? They introduced yet another cola, and well are doing OK for now.

Pepsi is toast for now.

I prefer Pepsi to that other crap but am now an other crap customer for the 6 cans a month I buy.

The other crap is number 1, who cares?

[Plastic Brontosaurus]

It sure looks like Pepsi is abandoning the Thai market. A few weeks ago I could still get Pepsi Max in the big bottles, now all that is available is normal Pepsi in the big bottles. Smaller bottles and cans have not been available for ages. Their shelf space has been taken over by Coca Cola products mostly.

Anyone who ever worked in retail/the supermarket space knows that shelf space is your primary asset. People I knew once flew pallets of canned tomatoes from Italy as they wanted to keep their shelf space and a hiccup prevented them from supplying local product. It cost them thousands (loss on the product) but at least they kept their shelf space. Pepsi has abandoned this and thus appears to be saying goodbye to the Thai market.

Whether they have a bottling plant or not is completely irrelevant. They could have shipped in product from neighboring countries months ago as an interim measure (by ship or road, not all that expensive) - they did not, so it appears to me they have written off this market (or they have seriously inexperienced management, is the only other way to look at it). It will cost them tens or hundreds of millions baht to get back into the market if they ever wanted to, not even taking into account their lack of an in-country plant.

[ignis]

It sure looks like Pepsi is abandoning the Thai market. A few weeks ago I could still get Pepsi Max in the big bottles, now all that is available is normal Pepsi in the big bottles. Smaller bottles and cans have not been available for ages. Their shelf space has been taken over by Coca Cola products mostly.

Anyone who ever worked in retail/the supermarket space knows that shelf space is your primary asset. People I knew once flew pallets of canned tomatoes from Italy as they wanted to keep their shelf space and a hiccup prevented them from supplying local product. It cost them thousands (loss on the product) but at least they kept their shelf space. Pepsi has abandoned this and thus appears to be saying goodbye to the Thai market.

Whether they have a bottling plant or not is completely irrelevant. They could have shipped in product from neighboring countries months ago as an interim measure (by ship or road, not all that expensive) - they did not, so it appears to me they have written off this market (or they have seriously inexperienced management, is the only other way to look at it). It will cost them tens or hundreds of millions baht to get back into the market if they ever wanted to, not even taking into account their lack of an in-country plant.

Maybe depends where you shop ?

Bought 2 big packs on Saturday, so 24 x 1,45 lt bottles of Pepsi Max, loads more packs + loads on the shelves, this was not far from me at Tesco...... [it say's Tesco Lotus, but everyone calls it Tesco Market......? only sells food and meat. and is not a lot bigger that a Tesco Express]

Pepsi Max noticed this morning has them in my local 7/11...just outside the Village....... I live 15 km west of Bang Yai, so not even near a City or Town

Last 4 or 5 weeks notice most places now have Pepsi Max is 3 sizes.. big 1.45, a 1 lt and a smaller one........... Prices 25 baht, 22 baht and 17 baht.

[kotsak]

I dont think Pepsi will be very pleased that EST has the same

colour scheme as Pepsi, as when I first saw it and did not know

the full details of the story, I thought it was a new type of Pepsi.

Anyway I am not drinking anymore of those soft drinks,chemical

flavours,sugar and water.not good for my diabetes so the Dr.says

waters good enough and sometimes I make my own Ginger Beer.

I also see Pepsi selling at 20bht per 1.25 ltr bottle,so competition

is good for the drinkers of these soft drinks.

regards Worgeordie

Est doesn't even have the decency to make their own dispensers..

[FarangTalk]

I thought it was a new type of Pepsi.

That is the entire point, and reinforces the duplicitous nature of doing business in Thailand.

[Stradavarius37]

EST is sh#t. Won't last.

[jbrain]

Has anyone noticed how little space Est takes on the shelves these days compared to Coke, Pepsi or even Big Cola.

[Thai at Heart]

Has anyone noticed how little space Est takes on the shelves these days compared to Coke, Pepsi or even Big Cola.

It is a step too far. Competing with Pepsi and coke is really playing with mega marketing power.

[DocN]

EST can only survive with HUGE marketing.

Compared to any of the other Cola- drinks (even BIG) , I find it horrible.

And it can not compete on another level: unlike Coke and Pepsi there is no "diet"- option.

And by the way: the Strawberry and Orange- stuff from EST also stinks tastewise, compared to Coke, Pepsi and BIF- products.

[DP25]

And it can not compete on another level: unlike Coke and Pepsi there is no "diet"- option.

Yeah, I've never even tried Est because of that. Although Pepsi and Coke aren't much better as I'm finding it hard to find any diet cola these days. With Coke, Pepsi, Est, and Big Cola all fighting for shelf space, a lot of 7-11s have removed diet colas entirely.

[Thai at Heart]

And it can not compete on another level: unlike Coke and Pepsi there is no "diet"- option.

Yeah, I've never even tried Est because of that. Although Pepsi and Coke aren't much better as I'm finding it hard to find any diet cola these days. With Coke, Pepsi, Est, and Big Cola all fighting for shelf space, a lot of 7-11s have removed diet colas entirely.

Coke probably knew that with Pepsi in the poop for a few months they didn't need to bother to import a diet mix since Est was lacking a diet version

[jbrain]

And it can not compete on another level: unlike Coke and Pepsi there is no "diet"- option.

Yeah, I've never even tried Est because of that. Although Pepsi and Coke aren't much better as I'm finding it hard to find any diet cola these days. With Coke, Pepsi, Est, and Big Cola all fighting for shelf space, a lot of 7-11s have removed diet colas entirely.

Coke probably knew that with Pepsi in the poop for a few months they didn't need to bother to import a diet mix since Est was lacking a diet version

But you realise that Pepsi Max was available again at least 2 momths prior to Coke Zero

[Thai at Heart]

And it can not compete on another level: unlike Coke and Pepsi there is no "diet"- option.

Yeah, I've never even tried Est because of that. Although Pepsi and Coke aren't much better as I'm finding it hard to find any diet cola these days. With Coke, Pepsi, Est, and Big Cola all fighting for shelf space, a lot of 7-11s have removed diet colas entirely.

Coke probably knew that with Pepsi in the poop for a few months they didn't need to bother to import a diet mix since Est was lacking a diet version

But you realise that Pepsi Max was available again at least 2 momths prior to Coke Zero

Am sure the coke marketing guys were more than aware of this fact.

[hellodolly]

And it can not compete on another level: unlike Coke and Pepsi there is no "diet"- option.

Yeah, I've never even tried Est because of that. Although Pepsi and Coke aren't much better as I'm finding it hard to find any diet cola these days. With Coke, Pepsi, Est, and Big Cola all fighting for shelf space, a lot of 7-11s have removed diet colas entirely.

Coke probably knew that with Pepsi in the poop for a few months they didn't need to bother to import a diet mix since Est was lacking a diet version

But you realise that Pepsi Max was available again at least 2 momths prior to Coke Zero

Depends on the area you are in. Here in Chiang Mai I had a hard time finding Pepsi Max for a while but Coke Zero was available. Even now I can not find Pepsi Max in the small cans and it has only been recently where there has been no problem buying the 1.45 mml bottles.

[canuckamuck]

I find that H20 is available almost anywhere and the diet version is identical to the original. Very good deals can be had when bought in bulk.

[ricku]

And it can not compete on another level: unlike Coke and Pepsi there is no "diet"- option.

Yeah, I've never even tried Est because of that. Although Pepsi and Coke aren't much better as I'm finding it hard to find any diet cola these days. With Coke, Pepsi, Est, and Big Cola all fighting for shelf space, a lot of 7-11s have removed diet colas entirely.

Good. Because diet cola tastes like shit anyway.

[DocN]

And it can not compete on another level: unlike Coke and Pepsi there is no "diet"- option.

Yeah, I've never even tried Est because of that. Although Pepsi and Coke aren't much better as I'm finding it hard to find any diet cola these days. With Coke, Pepsi, Est, and Big Cola all fighting for shelf space, a lot of 7-11s have removed diet colas entirely.

Good. Because diet cola tastes like shit anyway.

>sigh<

I explained it elsewhere: IF you are a diabethic (which I am) and you DONT want to drink only water, there are very few options and one of them is ...oh , what the F#$@, why do people only think as far as their own nose??

[phetaroi]

But still no word or indications of what happened to all the Pepsi and Pepsi max.

Ok so they broke the contract and Pepsi is not leaving Thailand soooo where is all the Pepsi ?

Not a smart move by Pepsi to leave the shelves empty for a while as many may switch brands

Serm Suk is not only the bottler, but the distributor. Lots of logistics for Pepsi to hammer out.

Pepsi is very aggressive in it's business policies. They have acquired many companies by refusing to supply product if the sale wasn't made. Many US restaurant chains switched to Coke because of this.

Pepsi's business model won't fly in Thailand, where nationalism rules.

And yet, since I began going to Thailand in the mid-1980s until recently, Pepsi was doing extremely well in Thailand.

[ignis]

Maybe this fight is good for price war ?

I am Diabetic and drink what brand I like = Pepsi Max......

notice in the little shops last week Pepsi Max 1.45 bottles were 24 baht.. that is down from 27 baht.

My Shop at Big C last week did not show any promotion but @ 22 baht, I bought my normal amount 6x 12 x 1.45 lt packs ... last time at Big C [last month] was on promotion @ 24.5 baht.

Had to pay my Aeon card, so as passing went into there store, [Aeon Super Value ? ] Pepsi Max @ 24 baht

[hellodolly]

Maybe this fight is good for price war ?

I am Diabetic and drink what brand I like = Pepsi Max......

notice in the little shops last week Pepsi Max 1.45 bottles were 24 baht.. that is down from 27 baht.

My Shop at Big C last week did not show any promotion but @ 22 baht, I bought my normal amount 6x 12 x 1.45 lt packs ... last time at Big C [last month] was on promotion @ 24.5 baht.

Had to pay my Aeon card, so as passing went into there store, [Aeon Super Value ? ] Pepsi Max @ 24 baht

Pepsi Max is just lately becoming easier to find, they are to big of a company for a local bottler to compete with. When they lost the contract they had with the previous bottler they opened up there own bottling plant with a greater capacity for production. They are on their way back and I look forward to seeing Pepsi Max in the 7/11s.

I think transportation became a problem but they will over come it.

[kimamey]

And it can not compete on another level: unlike Coke and Pepsi there is no "diet"- option.

Yeah, I've never even tried Est because of that. Although Pepsi and Coke aren't much better as I'm finding it hard to find any diet cola these days. With Coke, Pepsi, Est, and Big Cola all fighting for shelf space, a lot of 7-11s have removed diet colas entirely.

Good. Because diet cola tastes like shit anyway.

Well as I've never tasted shit I'll not question your helpful and balanced comment as you've obviously done your research on this. I have been told though that there's a faint after taste of cinnamon.

I've made a note of your name ricku so that I can look out for more of your words of wisdom.

Are you on Twitter by the way?

Edited April 17, 2013 by kimamey