I like trying sodas and soft drinks from different countries and wondered what Mexican sodas and Mexican soda drinks there are.
I did a little research and here’s what I found for Soda Lovers.
So, what are some Mexican sodas?
The following are Mexican soda brands:
- Jarritos
- Penafiel
- Sidral Mundet
- Sangria Senorial
- Aga
- Caballitos
These were invented in Mexico, however, there are also many Latin American sodas or soft drinks that are sold in Mexico, and most of the well-known brands are available in Mexico.
As you can see, there are only a handful of Mexican sodas and Hispanic soda brands.
But, some sodas that were Mexican have been sold to big-name companies like Coca-Cola and are now distributed by them.
So, I’ll break down what the most popular soda in Mexican culture is, information on the individual brands, what Barrilitos Mexican soda is, the wide variety of Barrilitos soda flavors, and where you can buy Barrilitos Aguas Frescas.
What is the most popular soda in Mexico?
The most popular soda in Mexico and in Mexican drinks is Coca-Cola, according to Statista.
They state that the biggest beverage brand is Coca-Cola, and Coca-Cola’s most popular soda is Coca-Cola Classic.
PepsiCo is the next largest beverage company in the beverage industry in Mexico and sells about 25% of the volume that Coca-Cola does.
Here’s a table that shows the biggest beverage companies in Mexico:
| Rank | Company | Percentage of the market |
| 1 | Coca Cola | 62% |
| 2 | PepsiCo | 13% |
| 3 | Nescafe | 12% |
| 4 | Banafort | 6.8% |
| 5 | Del Valle | 6% |
As you can see the biggest soda by far is Coca Cola and makes up over half the beverage sales in Mexico.
PepsiCo is the second largest beverage company in Mexico and the soda they sell the most is Pepsi, followed by Mountain Dew.
So, the top three sodas in Mexico are:
Interestingly, this is very similar to the biggest soda companies in the USA.
Here’s a table showing the biggest soda companies in the USA:
| Brand | % market share (2016) | % market share (2017) | % market share (2018) | % market share (2019) |
| Coca Cola | 42.4% | 42.8% | 43.2% | 43.7% |
| PepsiCo | 26.4% | 25.6% | 24.9% | 24.1% |
| Keurig Dr. Pepper | 17.6% | 17.9% | 17.9% | 18.2% |
| Refresco | 3.8% | 3.7% | 3.6% | 3.8% |
| National Beverage | 3% | 2.9% | 3.1% | 3.1% |
| Other | 6.8% | 7.1% | 7.2% | 7.1% |
Data provided by Statista.com.
From the data above you see the similarities between the USA soda market and the Mexican soda market.
Where both have Coca-Cola and Pepsi in the top 2.
After that, the soda companies in Mexico and the USA differ a bit Keurig Dr. Pepper is the third-largest soda or soft drink company with artificial flavor in the USA, whereas in Mexico Nescafe is the third-largest beverage company.
Nescafe, however, doesn’t sell sodas and only sells coffee.
Barrilitos Mexican soda
There used to be a soda called Barrilitos that came in a few flavors (delicious flavors) and was available at Walmart, as shown on this Walmart product listing.
However, it appears to have been discontinued as it’s no longer available.
And there isn’t any information available about it on the internet.
Barrilitos Agua Fresca is a drink or sugary drinks company owned by Coca-Cola (carbonated drinks company) as shown in this press release on the official Coca-Cola website.
And was released in 2017.
Agua fresca is a traditional fizzy drink or Mexican soft drink in Mexico, Central America, and parts of the USA, according to Wikipedia.
It literally translates as ‘cool water’ and is traditionally made with a mix of ice, water, fruits, seeds, cereals, flowers, and sugar. It is somehow the best Mexican soda.
There’s also a drink with a similar name called Ron del Barrilito, which is a high-quality rum that originated in Puerto Rico.
The similarity in the name comes from the fact that Barrilito in English means ‘little barrel’ and is a type of clay pot that’s used to keep drinks cooler for longer.
Barrilitos flavors
Where to buy Barrilitos Aguas Frescas?
You can buy Barrilitos Aguas Frescas at:
- Rubio’s – In California, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida
- 7 Eleven – In California, and Colorado
- Frontera – In the state of Georgia
- Cinemark – In California, Arizona, and Texas
It isn’t available at big supermarket chains like Walmart, or online on Amazon.
Is Jarritos Mexican?
Jarritos was invented in Mexico in 1950 and is, therefore, a Mexican soda.
It’s now owned by the Mexican food and drinks company Novamex, and it’s listed as one of their brands on their official website.
Novamex also owns a range of drinks including Non-alcoholic Sangria, coconut water, real apple juice, and iced tea. It’s not a Coca-Cola product.
I recently wrote an article about the Jarritos brand in-depth, including what flavors they have, which variety of flavors are the best, where you can buy this Mexican coke, and more.
You can read that article here What Is Jarritos Mexican Sodas?
What are the ingredients of Jarritos?
Jarritos contains the following ingredients:
- Carbonated Water
- Sugar
- Natural Flavors
- Citric Acid
- Sodium Benzoate
- Caramel Color
- Yellow 6.
- Red 40.
These are the ingredients in Jarritos Mandarin shown on Soda Popstop.
But, each flavor has slightly different colors.
For example, Jarritos Tamarind doesn’t contain Yellow 6, and only contains Red 40.
Jarritos also contain a similar sugar content or fructose corn syrup to Pepsi and Mountain Dew.
Surprisingly, Coca-Cola has around double the sugar and double the calories of most other sodas.
Is Fanta a Mexican drink?
According to Wikipedia Fanta was invented in Germany.
Therefore, Fanta is not Mexican.
They say that Coca-Cola had a bottling plant in Germany, but during WWII it was difficult to import fructose corn syrup or syrup to make Coca-Cola.
So a man who worked for American Coke at the time invented a new syrup which became Fanta.
This story is also mentioned on the official American Coca-Cola website or the official Coca-Cola website here.
It says that the name Fanta is a shortened version of the German word ‘fantasies’.
Which as you may have guessed is German for ‘fantasy’.
Fanta comes in a range of flavors and not all Fanta flavors are available in every country.
I recently looked at all the different Fanta flavors, which ones are the most popular, and where you can buy them in this article.
Definitely check it out here, What Is Green Fanta?
Is Sidral a soda?
Sidral Mundet is a soda or apple-flavored soda and is one of Mexico’s oldest sodas.
It was invented in 1902, as stated on their official website.
They come in two flavors: green apple and the original apple flavor.
It’s sold in both bottles and cans and it was the first soda with fructose corn syrup to ever be invented in Mexico.
Sidral Mundet is listed on the official Novamex website as one of their brands, together with Jarritos which is another Mexican soda.
Summing up
To summarise this article here are the main points I covered:
There are a handful of Mexican sodas and Mexican soft drinks that are sold today, however, some brands have come and gone over the years, and have been bought by various companies such as Coca-Cola.
The most popular sodas in Mexico are:
Coca-Cola sells the most soda by far compared to other companies and sells over 60% of the sodas consumed in Mexico.
The next biggest company is PepsiCo and which produces 13% of the sodas sold in Mexico.
The biggest soda companies in the USA are a bit different from the biggest soda companies in Mexico.
In the USA Coca Cola is only responsible for around 40% of the soda market with a variety of flavors.
Pepsi and Keurig Dr. Pepper make up another 40% with the remaining 20% consisting of smaller soda companies.
I’m the owner and blogger here at SodaPopCraft.Com. I’m a soft drinks enthusiast, bringing you all I know and research from the world of Beverages, Soda Pop, Soft Drinks, and many more.
I hope it inspires you to make Healthier, and Creative Drinks at Home.
Read more About Me here & Tweet Me Here.