Can Pepsi Employees Drink Coke?

Many people prefer Coke over Pepsi and vice versa; therefore, it’s fair to assume that some Pepsi employees would want to drink Coke rather than Pepsi.

Today, I will explain if Pepsi employees can drink Coke.

It’s widely reported by people online that the culture at PepsiCo is to be very loyal to Pepsi products and not to consume any other products.

Below, I will cover the ramifications of whether a Pepsi employee drinks Coke at work or in their Pepsi uniform, whether Pepsi employees get free soda, and why Pepsi and Coke are not served at the same restaurants.

What Happens if a Pepsi Employee Drinks Coke?

It’s widely known that most employees are candid and will not break the rules of their contract.

But there are exceptions, and some people will try to bend the rules or break the authorities while trying not to get caught.

This will happen if a Pepsi employee drinks Coke without thinking or on purpose.

It’s permissible to consume other sodas outside of work.

Interestingly, PepsiCo also makes a range of snack foods such as Doritos and Cheetos.

It’s also forbidden to consume snack foods from brands Pepsi doesn’t own.

An employee of Pepsi who works in the distribution has stated:

“I drink Coca-Cola products occasionally. Though we aren’t allowed any inside my Pepsi building. They will throw it out.”

There is one anecdotal story from a man who were good friends with Pepsi’s ex-CEO. He stated he was good friends with a head executive for Pepsi.

He would go to their house for dinners and events like birthdays.

In passing, when asked what he would like to drink, he said Coca-Cola.

The ex-CEO responded that in his house, they only keep PepsiCo sodas.

As you may know, PepsiCo also makes snack foods such as Lay’s potato chips and Doritos.

It’s also likely that you can’t consume snack food brands that aren’t owned by the snack food division of PepsiCo – called Frito-Lay.

Such as Pringles, which is made by Kellogg’s.

Many companies have perks where they get discounts on the products the company makes or get a certain amount of the products they make for free.

Here’s a full rundown of whether Pepsi employees get free soda, as explained by people who have worked at Pepsi in various roles.

There are various different roles at Pepsi.

For example, some people work in the factories, delivery drivers, as well as office staff.

At PepsiCo facilities, there is nowhere to buy Coca-Cola.

And although it’s reported it’s written into their employment contract that they are not allowed to drink other sodas at work, the rules for Pepsi delivery drivers appear more relaxed.

A PepsiCo delivery driver has reported:

“…when a new product launch comes, we get to sample it first. Free? No. We can buy cases at cost; damaged/out-of-date products are $2 each. We have vending machines to buy cans for .25¢ and 20 oz bottles for .40¢.”

He states that he is unaware of any rule where he cannot drink other sodas or Coke.

He states:

“As far as drinking Coke on the job, I don’t do it. It just doesn’t look good, and I don’t want to do that. If I go to a place for lunch that serves Coke, then yeah, I’ll have one for lunch. All bets are off when I’m off the clock and out of uniform.”

Funnily enough, various blind taste tests have been performed and have shown that people can’t tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi in a blind taste test.

Two examples are shown below:

https://youtube.com/shorts/26nzE3iAJKQ?feature=share

However, the fact remains that consumer preferences are typically for one or the other.

People also report they will only drink one over the other – Coke over Pepsi or Pepsi over Coke – if their preferred soda is unavailable.

Some companies pay OK, whereas others pay very well. On top of that, some companies offer average or low pay and additional perks such as health insurance. But below is a complete rundown on whether PepsiCo pays well.

According to the official PepsiCo website, you’re better off working for Pepsi directly because they offer a range of perks.

For example, working as a frontline delivery person for PepsiCo, PepsiCo offer:

• Health and Insurance Benefits
• Wellness benefits
• Retirement benefits
• Work/life benefits

These include dental insurance, paid leave, a 401k matching program, tuition reimbursement, and maternity and parental leave.

However, there are numerous threads online where people have reported that some third-party distribution centers are not good places to work.

Primarily because they don’t treat their staff very well.

Therefore, it’s necessary to investigate each of these companies individually online or get a feel for the company by doing a tour. Or, somehow, talking to people who work there or friends of people who work there where possible.

PepsiCo and the Coca-Cola Company are the two biggest beverage brands.

Many of the most well-known fast food restaurants, such as Mcdonald’s, Burger King, and Taco Bell, serve either Pepsi beverages or Coca-Cola beverages but never both. Here is why this is.

For this reason, these restaurants already served Pepsi beverages rather than Coca-Cola beverages.

However, many restaurants only serve beverages from the Coca-Cola Company or PepsiCo.

A soda company is incentivized to maintain its market share, and in some cases, it may have a goal to increase their sodas sales.

Therefore, limiting their competition in the beverage industry can be a driving factor.

But, PepsiCo’s annual reports state that they have various partnerships and contracts with restaurants.

While the exact details of these agreements are not public record, it’s clear that Coke or Pepsi incentivizes restaurants only to serve their sodas.

There are new fast-food chains that come up every so often.

But, at last count, 25 fast food restaurants sell Coca-Cola beverages only, and 14 fast food restaurants serve PepsiCo beverages only.

Some of the most recognizable brands are shown in the table below:

The other main reasons are:

• Restaurants get discounts if they only serve beverages from the Coca-Cola Company or PepsiCo.
• There is limited display space in restaurants.

It’s fair to say that most consumers decide what restaurant to go to based on the customer service and food quality. And sodas are pretty similar.

Therefore, it’s unlikely that restaurants would lose additional customers because they choose to serve Coca-Cola company beverages over PepsiCo ones.

Often a fast food restaurant does not have enough space to put both the Pepsi flavors, such as Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, and Miranda, AND the Coke flavors, such as Coke, Sprite, and Fanta.

Sodas made by the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo are often identical but are slightly different.

For example, Pepsi and Coke are both colas, and 7Up and Sprite are both lemonade.

It would be significant if a restaurant had a soda fountain with all these flavors.

Restaurants that provide bottles of these sodas instead of serving them from a soda fountain would also need double the refrigerator space to keep the variations of each of these flavors.

In most cases, restaurants don’t have this kind of space for storage.

It also adds more complexity to running a restaurant because they need to coordinate with two different suppliers rather than one.