by Kevin Burton
Finally I am on the right side of the great consumer steamroller.
Usually the foods and other products I like exist in the financial fringes. Marginal sales, minimal customer appeal, and a tenuous position in the marketplace; that is usually where my go-to stuff is, always in danger of being discontinued.
Finally, my stuff rules.
Dr. Pepper.
CNN tells the story under the headline, “The soda market is flat, but not for Dr. Pepper.”
Even better, my wife Jeannette likes it too. She drinks regular Dr. Pepper. I drink Diet Dr. Pepper.
“In the pantheon of sodas, Dr Pepper is the odd one out: It doesn’t have the popularity or sales of Coca-Cola or Pepsi, and it doesn’t fall neatly into a category like cola or root beer,” reads the CNN story.
“For decades, the peppery soda has marketed its blend of 23 flavors as a unique choice for discerning soda drinkers. Over the years Dr Pepper has found success as a quirky alternative to Coke and Pepsi.”
The corporate entity has fought off unfriendly buyout attempts from both Coke and Pepsi. That seems to be paying off.
“Today, Dr Pepper is hardly a scrappy underdog — it’s the hero brand in Keurig Dr Pepper which, along with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, make up the three largest soda companies in the $37 billion US market, as measured by NielsenIQ in retail and convenience stores,” CNN writes.
“And recently, Dr Pepper has been gaining ground on its competitors, even as the overall soda market goes flat.”
Both of those trends are being upheld in the Burton household. We drink less soda than before. I prefer the 7.5-ounce cans. If I’m not drinking Fresca, we both are reaching for Dr. Pepper first.
“Dr Pepper soda grew its dollar share by 9 percent from 2003 to 2021, compared to a 26 percent drop in the carbonated soft drinks category overall, according to Keurig Dr Pepper, citing IRI and the Beverage Digest factbook. Today, Dr Pepper is the fourth most popular soda in the country after Coke, Pepsi and Mountain Dew,” CNN reported.
“Over the past 20 years, carbonated soft drinks have been declining in volume,” said Duane Stanford, editor of Beverage Digest. “One of the bright spots … has been Dr Pepper.”
Jeannette and I both used to drink Coke products, but dropped them in favor of Dr. Pepper. To me, Dr. Pepper has a little more life to it.
“I don’t know how to explain it, but Coke tastes sort of dry to me,” Jeannette said. She also said Dr. Pepper is “a little bit softer on my throat.”
Nobody knows how Dr. Pepper got its name, according to the website factsite.com. That site says for a while the drink had no name and was simply called “Waco” after the Texas city where it was invented and produced.
Charles Alderton invented the drink. The first bottle was sold Jan. 12, 1885.
“Legend has it that it was named after the father of a girl whom Wade Morrison loved,” the website says. Morrison owned the drugstore where the drink was invented.”
Jeannette tells the story of being on vacation and taking her son to McDonalds. Charlie wanted a Dr. Pepper with his happy meal. “And the young man behind the counter said ‘sorry, we don’t sell Dr. Pepper here’ and he was just crestfallen,” Jeannette said.
“But then the guy said ‘tell you what buddy, I drink Dr. Pepper and I’ve got one out in my car, I’ll go get it for you.’”
Now that’s a solid.
Another solid: Jeannette’s cousin sent her a Dr. Pepper t-shirt a couple of years ago, knowing it would be a welcomed gift.
“In the early 20th century, national bottlers that worked with Coke or Pepsi shied away from Dr Pepper, fearing they would run afoul of agreements that barred them from partnering with a competitor. As a result, Dr Pepper had little national distribution, focusing primarily on Texas and nearby states,” CNN reported.
Dr Pepper “pulled off a legal coup that gave it the necessary leg up: It argued effectively in a US District Court that Dr Pepper was not a cola,” a 1984 article in D Magazine explained. Or as the Federal trade Commission put it, “the suit opened up PepsiCo and Coca-Cola bottlers to Dr Pepper and its sales rose immediately.”
With new-found access to the whole country, the brand “started promoting [itself] much more heavily,” said Donovan, the author of “Fizz.”
“There are other advantages to existing outside of the cola dichotomy. Food-service providers typically have an agreement with eitherCoke or Pepsi for its soda fountains, and one fountain won’t feature products made by the other. But the fountains often offer Dr Pepper, making it a widely available choice.”
“Dr Pepper is the number one most differentiated trademark in beverage — not just soft drinks, but in beverage,” said Derek Dabrowski, general manager of juices, mixers and sauces at KDP. People reach for Dr Pepper when they want a treat, he added. That’s “where we have been winning.”
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