Here is a link to the WSJ article from Jan 2006:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113694582481843377.html
Taste Test
U.S. Thirst for Mexican Cola
Poses Sticky Problem for Coke
Though It's the Real Thing,
Soda's Route Across Border
Breaks Company Rules
Investigating an 'Irritation'
By CHAD TERHUNE
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 11, 2006
The middle shelf in the soft-drink aisle at Las Tarascas, a Latino supermarket in Lawrenceville, Ga., was bare last week. But store manager Erik Carvallo couldn't call the local Coca-Cola bottler to replenish his stock of Coke.
The Coke Mr. Carvallo's customers had snapped up comes in scuffed glass bottles stamped "Hecho en Mexico" -- made in Mexico. It found its way to this Atlanta suburb through an underground supply chain that flouts Coca-Cola Co.'s long-established distribution system.
Mexican-made Coke is such a popular taste of home for many immigrants that Las Tarascas sells about 20 cases a week, or nearly 500 12-ounce bottles at $1.25 apiece. "It's what they grew up with," says Mr. Carvallo. Meanwhile, he sells fewer than five cases a week of the cheaper U.S. version, in cans and plastic bottles on a nearby shelf after his Mexican supply is gone. (A plastic 20-ounce bottle of U.S. Coke sells in some parts of the country for about $1.)
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