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Wal-Mart Strong-Arms Coke To Bypass Local Bottlers
Posted by Pile
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 Coca-Cola, fearing Wal-Mart would launch its own sports drink to rival the beverage giant's Powerade if it didn't agree to the retailer's new distribution terms, caved under the pressure and altered its own century-old supply system, a published report said Thursday.
Instead of involving regional bottling branches who deliver to individual stores (and thus help the local communities and employ more people) Coca Cola has been forced to set up more direct distribution methods to appeal to Wal-Mart's demands or else be replaced with Wal-Mart branded drinks. |
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Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, asked Coke last year to switch to the straight-to-warehouse delivery method, and Coke's largest bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises, began doing so across much of the U.S. in April, the Wall Street Journal said.
But according to June 1 court filing by Coke, the company stated that it faced a "serious risk" of a Wal-Mart-branded rival to Powerade unless it abided by Wal-Mart's demands of direct distribution instead of having Coke (Research) bottlers deliver drinks to individual stores within their exclusive territories and stack those drinks on store shelves.
The disclosure was made in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta against Coke and its largest bottler by 55 smaller bottlers, the paper said. |
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