- Subway is ditching Coca-Cola in the US as it switches to rival Pepsi.
- Under a 10-year agreement, Subway will start selling drinks including Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Tropicana, and Lipton.
- Subway’s US stores will start making the switch in January 2025.
Coke fans, watch out — Subway is ditching the drinks supplier in favor of rival Pepsi in the US.
Subway announced on Tuesday that it had signed a 10-year agreement to supply PepsiCo drinks at its US stores from the start of 2025.
This means that as well as Pepsi, Subway customers will also be able to get other beverages such as Mountain Dew, Tropicana, Lipton, and Gatorade.
Pepsi and Coca-Cola are two of the world’s largest beverage companies and longtime rivals. Pepsi has made light of the fact that it has been seen as a lesser cola in the past.
In 2019, it ran a Super Bowl ad, dubbed: “Is Pepsi OK?” — which poked fun at a question consumers are often asked in restaurants, it said.
Coca-Cola told Business Insider that it had been partnered with Subway for almost 20 years and was “committed” to serving the chain for the remainder of 2024. Coca-Cola’s drinks portfolio also includes Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, and Powerade.
Restaurant Business reported that it’s rare for big chains to switch beverage suppliers. Arby’s changed from PepsiCo to Coca-Cola in 2018, and Culver’s made the same move in 2023.
Subway said the change from Coca-Cola to PepsiCo would provide “additional value” to franchisees, who would be given new beverage equipment. Business Insider has contacted Subway for further details on how the switch would provide more value for franchisees.
Subway said that the first of its US stores would switch to PepsiCo products in early January 2025, with all the locations making the change over the following few months. Subway has about 20,000 locations in the US.
Subway already sells PepsiCo beverages at its stores in other regions, including Canada, Germany, the Nordics, and the Netherlands.
Its US stores sell potato chips from Frito-Lay, PepsiCo’s snack arm, and the sandwich chain said bringing its snacks and beverages under one supplier would create more efficiency.
Read the full article here