BARBADOS' LARGEST FAST FOOD CHAIN, CHEFETTE RESTAURANTS, has dropped Coke and its sister products from its menu.

As a result, Barbados Bottling Company (BBC), local producers of Coke, has lost its single largest customer.

Now filling the void in the 13 Chefette branches across the country is Coke's biggest rival internationally, Pepsi – which is being imported from Trinidad.

This means that Pepsi, which for years has been the principal supplier of soft drinks to the island's second largest fast food chain, KFC, has become the dominant supplier in this segment of the soft drink market.

According to reports, BBC's five-year contract came to an end on July 31, and from last week, patrons dining at Chefette were not "washing down" their food with Coke, Sprite or Frutee, but with Pepsi Cola and the various Ju-C flavours.

A release from Banks Holdings Limited's general manager William Haslett confirmed the switch.

"After reviewing quotations from interested parties, the Chefette organisation decided to go with an alternative supplier of carbonated beverages and we have been working closely with them to make the transition as smooth as possible," he said.

A source at BBC explained that after detailed examination of all the costs, management had to accept that under the current circumstances, it could not compete with the cost of input from the Trinidad market.

Meantime, Chefette's deputy general manager Ryan Haloute said the decision was dictated by "market forces", adding this was the second time they had made the switch to Pepsi in 34 years of operations.

He said the transition began on August 14 and was completed on August 19.

The decision by Chefette came as BBC workers were celebrating "history", having been named as the first Coca-Cola bottler in the region to receive an "A" grade for its post-mix operations.

Officials from Coca-Cola company's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, audited the operations of the 18 authorised bottlers in the region and awarded the local company the highest grade.
(JW/RM)