Advice on moving from 16.9 to 20 ounce bottles

[beejaykc aka Munch A Bunch]

As you know, I've now got 1 single Coke 3rd party machine up and running (just today!).  I am running 20 ounce bottles out of that.  That being said.......I have 2 other machines that I own that I run 16.9 ounce bottles from mainly becuase until this week I didn't have a relationship with Coke (and still don't with Pepsi).

 

I have all my 16.9 ounce drinks priced at $1.25 at those other locations.  But thanks to my new relationship with Coke......I'd like to convert to 20 ounce bottles across the board. This will mean a price increase to at least $1.50 at the other two locations.  Justified - no doubt.  But is this wise?  I would say from a route management perspective.....it is.

 

1 location won't care.

1 location probably will care, and I'll take heat for a week or two for it.  Their old vendor had a very old can soda machine in there and was selling them for 60 cents before I came in with a credit card, dollar bill accepting, brand new machine and started charging $1.25 for bottles.  They bitched for a few weeks....but are buying 15-20 a day out of it now. 

 

Thanks fellas (and ladies too). 

[moondog]

As you know, I've now got 1 single Coke 3rd party machine up and running (just today!).  I am running 20 ounce bottles out of that.  That being said.......I have 2 other machines that I own that I run 16.9 ounce bottles from mainly becuase until this week I didn't have a relationship with Coke (and still don't with Pepsi).

 

I have all my 16.9 ounce drinks priced at $1.25 at those other locations.  But thanks to my new relationship with Coke......I'd like to convert to 20 ounce bottles across the board. This will mean a price increase to at least $1.50 at the other two locations.  Justified - no doubt.  But is this wise?  I would say from a route management perspective.....it is.

 

1 location won't care.

1 location probably will care, and I'll take heat for a week or two for it.  Their old vendor had a very old can soda machine in there and was selling them for 60 cents before I came in with a credit card, dollar bill accepting, brand new machine and started charging $1.25 for bottles.  They bitched for a few weeks....but are buying 15-20 a day out of it now. 

 

Thanks fellas (and ladies too). 

The one problem I had with 20 oz sodas is that they were too large for most people to drink before they got warm.  The only thing over the 16 oz size that I've had any luck with are the Arizona 23 oz cans which a lot of my customers pour into their own glass and add ice.  It's probably hotter here than where you're at, but we don't get the humidity.

[AZVendor]

In a 3rd party Coke machine, you can run 16.9 oz Coke products.  I think you will find your profit margin better on 16.9 oz at $1.25 than you will on 20 oz at $1.50 and you might get a couple more 16.9 bottles in each column than you can with 20 oz.    Here in Arizona we find that 16.9 oz costs are lower than 20 oz from Coke . We even have Pepsi 24 oz that are cheaper than Pepsi 20 oz here.

[beejaykc aka Munch A Bunch]

In a 3rd party Coke machine, you can run 16.9 oz Coke products.  I think you will find your profit margin better on 16.9 oz at $1.25 than you will on 20 oz at $1.50 and you might get a couple more 16.9 bottles in each column than you can with 20 oz.    Here in Arizona we find that 16.9 oz costs are lower than 20 oz from Coke . We even have Pepsi 24 oz that are cheaper than Pepsi 20 oz here.

Actually, I'm finding that at those sales prices, my profits are about .06 difference.  I just need to decide if .06 is a barrier and if it makes enough of a difference in the running of my route.

 

If I can start buying most all of my soda product from Coke......I can reduce my trips to Sam's.  I can then just buy candy and pastry from them, and I'm not having to do that as frequently as soda.  The Coke warehouse is near the Vistar warehouse (across the street basically) - and I buy most all of my chips from them now.  So this whole thing about going to Coke will reduce my trips to Sam's............I think.  And that might make that .06 difference.

[moondog]

Actually, I'm finding that at those sales prices, my profits are about .06 difference.  I just need to decide if .06 is a barrier and if it makes enough of a difference in the running of my route.

 

If I can start buying most all of my soda product from Coke......I can reduce my trips to Sam's.  I can then just buy candy and pastry from them, and I'm not having to do that as frequently as soda.  The Coke warehouse is near the Vistar warehouse (across the street basically) - and I buy most all of my chips from them now.  So this whole thing about going to Coke will reduce my trips to Sam's............I think.  And that might make that .06 difference.

You make a good point about the convenience of using bottler delivered products versus having to go and pick them up each time.  I'm currently saving about $40 a load when I buy my sodas at Costco but I'm doing a lot of extra schlepping and spending a couple of hours in Costco each week (two trips).  It would be a lot more convenient just to have a hundred cases sitting here in my shop.  

 

Right now I'm about two good accounts shy of my goal.  Of course, I already know what's going to happen when I reach that point and another good account pops up - I'm going to jump on it and every other opportunity I see.  As I grow, my product acquisition problems are going to get worse until I make some significant changes.  While $40 an hour saved is decent money, I can make much more servicing a good account.