McDonalds Diet Coke

i know mcdonalds makes their own coke. like the dispensing machine is just syrup and carbonated water in the back. so i was wondering, is it really coke? or is it their own take on coke, like generic coke? and if its really diet coke, or their own generic diet coke, or if theyre cheap, is it just coke diluted with water?

i had a few cups today. i hope it was the real diet coke.

It would be illegal for them to give you watered down Coke and call it Diet Coke.

For a company that's already been sued to hell and back, I don't think they'd do something that stupid. 

It's real diet coke... Coca Cola company sets up the fountain machines and they deliver the flavoring and carbonated water to mcdonalds. Just like how venders stock vending machines in companies.

Everyone is correct, however, those machines have a knob so that they can adjust the amount of syrup vs. soda water.  When I worked in Friendly's one of my managers used to put more soda water in it to save some $$$.

haha ya... you can ajust the amounts. one time i did by accident at work and added WAY too much syrop... it sounds good but YUCK!!

Fast food soda always tastes like crap, I didn't know you could adjust the syrup-water ratio. That's probably why...

i had a friend that was a manager at mcdonald's for a few years, and she told me that it costs mcdonald's FOUR cents to sell you a large coke.  yeah, 4 cents.

i don't drink soda, but if i did, i wouldn't buy it from them based on the markup alone.

i just asked her about the adjustment thing being discussed here, and she said they never did it intentionally.  mcdonald's is known for having their coke taste a certain way, so they don't mess with it because customers always complain.

but there are more than 700+ receipes for coke in the world, each one being just slightly different.  each restaurant chain chooses their own levels. 

That being said, I don't know why I am a glutton for punishment each morning and spend $1.96 on a large iced tea from McD's...I KNOW it costs nothing of the sort!

Original Post by pchca:

i had a friend that was a manager at mcdonald's for a few years, and she told me that it costs mcdonald's FOUR cents to sell you a large coke.  yeah, 4 cents.

>snip

 

We all have our little routines!

All restaurants and stores sell their products for more than they bought them for. That's how they make an income. I will still drink coke even from McDonalds. I think it tastes just fine and if they want to charge over a dollar for a coke, that's fine. Everywhere else does too.

I have owned fast food restaurants for the past 35 years. The soda companies usually provide the equipment (fountain head (where the soda is dispensed))/ The have in the back room, racks that hold bag-in-the box containers of soda (actually the syrup is shipped in a very heavy plastic bag with a special valve that is propriety to the company (Pepsi can not connect to Coke and vise versa). Also in the back room there are special pumps that pump the syrup to the fountain head and values to keep the pressure regulated (usually a fairly large low pressure CO2 or high pressure CO2 supply) both keeps the syrup at a constant pressure at the carbonator and the fountain head as the needs of the machine as soda is drawn off (cups are filled). The carbonator makes soda on demand as its used by drinks being filled.

All soda is REAL, and you can not use cheap substitutes. The actual soda dispensed at the fountain head costs approximately (for a 22 oz drink), 5-6 cents per cup, (with customer fills, there is a waste of approximately 10-12% of syrup and misc. supplies. The ice for this drink costs 4-7 cents (fountain companies do not provide ice machines) so the cost of electricity, capital cost of the machines bring the cost of ice to approximately the same as the syrup. The cost of the cup, is approximately 5-7 cents, the lid, 2-4 cents, all this is if paper cups are utilized. If promo, or plastic, the cup and lid cost can be 15-25 cents per cup.

Then you have to factor labor, capitalization of the whole restaurant, leases, cam charges, etc., al.

All in all, a cup of 22 oz soda with all the associated costs, fees, etc., would be closer to 15 cents if non plastic or promo cups are used, or 25-40 cents if it were for plastic or promo cups are utilized. Then you have to again factor FREE drink refills in to the whole mix.

 Profit is high on soda, fries, etc..., though the profit is good on these, its only part of the whole mix.

 Nevertheless, SODA in any form is NOT good for you. Avoid it!

Wow, My dad has always told me how much we are getting ripped off by companies due to mark up. Its nice to finally hear from an owner how true it is :)

     I for one am just starting on the whole cutting calories lifestyle and such so I think I will be going for water more often now. I was the kind of person that would go for an extra large Dr. Pepper when I would eat at McDonalds. On a side note, it always seemed to me that Jack in the Box's Dr. Pepper was very bland and much more Soda Water than Syrup. I've never worked in a fast food restaurant but it is cool to know that they do have percentage knobs.

Original Post by unknownfluke:

Wow, My dad has always told me how much we are getting ripped off by companies due to mark up. Its nice to finally hear from an owner how true it is :)

It's called supply and demand.  If there is demand higher than the cost to produce an item, then the markup will be high.  If the demand is less then the markup would be lower.