What else is new?

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Soft drink proprietors have seized the media spotlight with a recent announcement that they will phase out the sale of sugary soft drinks in public school cafeterias and vending machines over the next three years. Health and education officials were quick to praise the move, but others are asking the pertinent question why the sudden change of heart? Call me a jaded consumer, but I have a difficult time swallowing the fact that the purveyors of sugary, health destroying cocktails are more concerned with the recent obesity epidemic and the health of our youth than they are with their own market shares and profitability. There must be some measure of benefit, aside from the recent P.R. gains, for these gigantic corporations to even consider pulling their flagship products from such a lucrative market. What could possibly replace all of those cans of Coke and Pepsi?
H-20. Wet gold. Profit in a bottle. Water. The bottled water industry is ridiculously lucrative. Each of the three companies that agreed to drop the sugary beverages has their own version of bottled water that will undoubtedly fill the gaps in the school vending machines. The world consumes roughly 155 billion liters of bottled water per year in a market that last year surpassed 9 billion dollars, and it would seem that they still have markets to (excuse the pun) tap. The corporations literally pay fractions of cents for each liter of spring water that they bottle, which they then sell marked up at roughly 2000f that cost. In some cases the water isnt even from a fresh water spring. Instead it is common tap water that has gone through one or more stages of purification. Without a doubt, selling the water in its base form for the same price as water mixed with sugar, flavor, and carbonation is vastly more profitable.
That being said, the end result is a school environment in which children are not able to over indulge on soft drinks. This is good. Bear in mind, however, that Cadbury Schweppes, Coca-Cola. and PepsiCo were likely not putting the health and well being of the children first when making this decision, because when we think about healthy food and drink, PepsiCO and Coca-Cola are the first things that pop into everyones head. Big corporations making even more money at the expense of eveyone else.... What else is new.....