Dublin Dr Pepper Officially No Longer Exists, But Cane Sugar-Sweetened Dr Pepper Still Does

• Well I questioned the Dr Pepper Snapple group after the news of Dublin's demise a while back. They promised there would be no disruption of Cane Sugar Dr Pepper. I also questioned their ability to design and make packaging that worked even close to as well as Coke's 12 and 24pks. Its a month later and guess what, no cane sugar Dr Pepper available in 3 different places where it had been sold before. What did they do with the packaging, they just stopped making a tear out corner on the 24pk and the 12pk is worse than before. Over the years Dr Pepper has always had issues with their distribution. Empty shelves at multiple locations, cans that leaked into packages, bottles that go flat in 1 day after opening a 2 litre. They remind me a great deal of a company that thinks "we're number 3, we don't try"...enough of their crap...

• BOO-YEAH!!!!!  Nope, that's all I have to add.  Kudos philiKtid.

• The 44-mile radius or whatever, it could be a 100 mile radius and it still wouldn't even be one percent of DPS' sales.  This was probably a case of DPS making plans to start selling their own can sugar on a regular basis.  What it is, is peeing on the little guy.  Sometimes...the right thing isn't always doing what the "law" says.  (murder and things of that nature not included.)

• oh d4mn, tee-wee, i accidentally came across some facts on the internet...which should temper...well, something... you said "The real issue was that corporate DP was/is ALSO making a cane sugar version for a while now" from the (unofficial) dr. pepper faq: In late 2009, the Dr Pepper company quietly rolled out a variation on their brand called "Heritage Dr Pepper," which is essentially the same as plain old Dr Pepper, only—as it says on its container—"Made with Real Sugar" instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup. This release came in the wake of the success of Pepsi Throwback (a version of Pepsi Cola made with sugar instead of HFCS) earlier that same year, concurrent with an increased availability of Mexican Coca-Cola (also made with sugar instead of HFCS) throughout the United States.Even though the Heritage drink went out of production in 2010 about as quietly as it went in, it apparently met with some approval, as it was resurrected in a slightly different form in July, 2010, as "Dr Pepper Made with Real Sugar," and released as a limited edition in bottles and cans with collectible packaging that featured various logos and graphics from the beverage's 125-year history. The supply of this particular run dried up by the end of 2010, so if you still have any of these commemorative cans lying around, you should count yourself lucky.To be clear, this product was not precisely the same as the Dr Pepper made with cane sugar from Dublin in question 2.6. For one thing, the Heritage and "Made with..." drinks were both made in relatively small batches with limited availability both in terms of geography and duration. The Dublin drink, on the other hand, can be shipped almost anywhere in the world, and has been in production practically non-stop since 1891. However, the more important difference is in the sweeteners. Whereas the Heritage drinks were sweetened with "sugar," which could be either cane sugar, beet sugar, or a combination of both; the Dublin drink is explicitly sweetened with "Imperial Pure Cane Sugar," not from beets. A small difference to some, but enough to keep the drinks separate. Still better than the HFCS variety though, in my opinion. (from http://www.freenewyork.net/dpfaq.html) so there you go.  i've managed to do what you couldn't/didn't: define "for a while now".  i can see why you chose to keep the amount of time and details vague - as i expected, it doesn't really look good for your position.  so for the last...what, two or three years, dublin dp was competing with a similar product that corporate brought to market in limited geographical areas with limited availability.  with a product dublin had been making basically forever?  as a 120+ year old dp bottler?  yes, it's obvious dublin dp was really going out of their way to compete with this well-entrenched corporate product, huh?  if corporate's hand isn't actually up your bum working your mouth, you must have something grand to lose/gain by what's happened... i also provided some detail around what you mean when you say "Cane sugar DP is available in 20oz plastic bottles all over the place".  and what your phrase "SAME product" actually translates to.  although perhaps you work with the temple bottler, which was bottling for dublin - in which case your one location might actually be truly making the same product -- but obviously that wasn't the case with these previous variations on corporate "heritage"/"real sugar" versions, and it hasn't been widely available from corporate/bottlers.  i'm guessing corporate is working to change that, as are some bottlers, now that they found a legal way to get rid of dublin. anyway, at least we can see my indignation actually should be, as you defined it, righteous.  as if that weren't already obvious.  

• "that's a whole lot of words just to end up at fail."  i'm sure that's how dublin dp felt about the whole lot of years they'd committed to making a pure cane sugar product, only to end up with your "real issue" fscking them over.  so it's okay, the world is full of undeserved fail - i'm not in bad company.  or in a bad company.  haha. fortunately, i suppose, you needed much fewer words to fail. : )  and you evidently needed pretty much no words to refute anything i'd written.  because i did discuss this "real issue" you mention - in fact, most of my "whole lot of words" was about that very thing. it's funny you state you are selling rights to bottle dublin dp (in other words, sounds like you should know a thing or two), but say: [1] "corporate dp was/is ALSO making a cane sugar version" "for a while now".  how long?  in what markets?  which bottlers?  available where?  for how long?  don't try to tell me i need to be tempered with facts, when you supply the vaguest of phrasing.  is it because you don't know for sure?  the lazier way?  or it'd look sorta bad to state exact dates?  how long has corporate offered this as a product?  how many runs has it seen?  how was it labeled?   [2] "likely due to increasing consumer demand for cane sugar sweetened sodas".  really?  you mean pretty much exactly like my second paragraph described?  thanks for pointing out what i'd already stated though.  glad we agree.  guess i must have managed to slip at least one fact in there, somehow. : ) [3] "competing with the SAME product"... yeah, the product dublin never stopped making, right?  the one they continually made, and garnered demand for because of, right?  the one they paid higher prices for when corporate and all other bottlers bolted from in favor of hfcs, right?  and now, after what dublin dp has been doing for years...carving out a niche... sees some "likely" interest from the public, suddenly everyone else wants in and wants them to disappear, huh?  and they're "selling the rights to bottle" it?   just a sec...y'all have different rights to use cane sugar as compared to hfcs?  it's two rights?  $$?  (that's dollar signs for eyes.) [4] "available in 20oz plastic bottles all over the place"  is it available in all formats all over the place?  12 oz cans, 20 oz bottles, as fountain syrup?  because that's a big part of what dublin dp offered, huh?  if so, why isn't corporate dp stating this?  all they talk about is those nostalgia bottles.  isn't it up to the bottlers of each exclusive territory?  let me walk over to my local convenience store and look for a 20oz pure cane sugar dp...wanna make a bet with me, tee-wee?  even if i live outside of Texas?  i mean, i undertand corporate dp has been busy trying to take over this market from dublin, but they have to work through their bottlers, most of whom throughout the u.s. were not making cane sugar dp.  in fact, i think maybe at some point in time dublin was the *only* bottler that could because they were grandfathered.  true? my "whole lots of words" was tempered with plenty of facts.  when i was stating opinion, i tried to denote it as such.  you didn't refute any of them - fact or opinion, really, and did a poor job of misdirection.  it's nothing the other corporate-minded folk haven't already tried.  ignore everything that corporate dp allowed and approved about dublin dp over the last 20+ years, 40+ years, etc.  focus on the fact that dublin dp had product outside their (very small) territory.  ignore the fact that all of these disputed sales were generated via internet/phone and word of mouth, not because they were actively trying to go out and sell their product and actively steal territory.  ignore that dublin dp didn't fit into the territory system because they were a special product.  ignore that we just recently saw this has value, and now we want them to act like they were never anything different or special, even though we fully supported them as such until "for a while now".  ignore the fact that dublin dp made dp Texan, and real, and special.  ignore that we just shot ourselves in the foot, and destroyed one of our own oldest bottlers, who likely did more than just about anyone else to promote our company, who gave us a deep tie to our real roots.  ignore the town of dublin - we love them!  ignore that we could have found a myriad other ways to work this out (like allowing them internet sales as a boutique brand).  ignore that the internet has changed the world around us, and trans-shipping due to any bottler being unique in some way is a future that will have to be dealt with. in the end, corporate dp just doesn't understand.  maybe it's the snapple in them.  or maybe they just lost sight along the way, blinded by a corporate mindset.  or they can't say the "real" reasons they did what they did.  maybe they were scared dublin dp was going to take over dp?  haha. (it *is* sort of funny dp felt like they had to muscle in on their own product line.) but, honestly, thanks for corroborating the version of what i figured...the "real issue" as you called it.  not really brand dilution, not really trans-shipping - but corporate and other bottlers wanting to get in on the action dublin had invested time and money creating, while everyone else had cut corners using hfcs.  once dublin was established and well-known due to their choices over the years, corporate had to find some way to take them out - both for the other bottlers and for themselves.  which is pretty easy, given some lawyers and any kind of contract.  badabing, badaboom, now tee-wee is selling "dublin dp" rights (didn't you mean pure cane sugar dp?) for corporate, and dublin dp is gone. p.s. i apologize for not discussing glass vs. cans vs. plastic.  it seems like a side issue.

• you need to stop thinking logically and start thinking like people who felt like they were being cut out of access to money.  even though dublin dp had done all of the legwork these years, and stuck out using pure cane sugar when all other dp bottlers quit, other dp bottlers wanted to sell sugar cane dp in their exclusive territories.  unfortunately, they found out people were clamoring after the dublin dp already, and dublin was providing it (via internet, phone, and local pick-up sales).  yes, the other bottlers were late to the game.  so they complained to daddy dp, who found a way to make it all better.  they told dublin dp they were going to change the way they'd treated them all these years - the way they'd crowed about them, pointed people to them, and supported them - ignoring everything of value and unique about dublin dp - and treat them like a generic bottler trying to steal sales from others' territories.  when dublin didn't give to this tactic, they pushed the issue.  i honestly wouldn't be surprised if corporate cried a little in secret, but they had to keep the other bottlers happy, and i'm betting they were hoping it'd all blow over quietly and pretty soon everyone would be selling more pure cane sugar dp at nostalgic prices for even more.

• so...logically...they should have gone after the temple bottler, for aiding and abetting! nah, that's no elephant - it's a cardboard picture of one.  although the real elephant might be nearby...that being that dublin had tentative plans (at least in mid-july of last year) to build a plant to locally produce their dp...and other dp bottlers were the ones pissed at dublin dp and wanting in on the action...  does anyone know where the temple dp bottler was on the night dublin dp was shot?  not only could they not sell the pure cane sugar dp they were making extra of because everyone wanted dublin dp, they were possibly going to lose the money they were making from bottling the product for dublin.  motive, anyone? : )

• The elephant in the room is that Dublin Dr. Pepper long ago outsourced it to the Temple bottler. Most of the Dublin Dr. Pepper was being bottled at Temple.

• Please enlighten me tee-wee as to WHERE you are seeing these 20 oz. "pure cane sugar" Dr Peppers???  Everywhere I look I only see the ones that say "Made with REAL Sugar" which IS NOT pure cane sugar!!!  It's beet sugar!!! You asked for facts?... Here are some thrown in with a few of my opinions!!!   Fact #1---  US labeling law does not require the origin of the sugar, whether cane or beet, to be noted on packaging. Fact #2--- Chemically speaking table sugars refined from cane and beet sugar are quite similar, but there is a minute chemical difference.... I mean really... The beet roots are used to make sugar and grown in the ground as cane stalks grow above the ground... You cannot convince me that the soil doesn't make a difference. Fact #3--- The molasses byproduct from beet sugar production is sold as an addition to animal feed and not used in food for human consumption... Because molasses from beet sugar is not fit for human consumption, and thus removed completely during the refining process, it has to be added back to make brown beet sugar. They use cane molasses to coat the beet sugar granules! From an internet comment I read today there are children who are intolerant to beet sugar, but is fine with cane sugar and their behaviour improves radically after beet sugar was removed from their diet. Further research has highlighted that a lot of children with ADHD can have a similar change in behaviour when beet sugar is removed.... So I am 100% that there is a difference in the make up of pure cane versus beet. I can print pages of facts for you all day long.... I am not even an avid Dr Pepper drinker... I have one on occasion but only if it's from Dublin and made with pure cane sugar... I live 15 hours from Dublin and now when I go back to my hometown to visit I can't even get one anymore... Here is the last FACT I will share... FACT--- The bottom line is that you can place three glasses of Dr Pepper in front of me... 1 with beet sugar, 1 with high fructos corn syrup, and 1 with pure cane sugar and I can tell you which one is from DUBLIN made with pure cane sugar!!!!!!!!!!!!

• First off JLO... Their "territory" of a 44 mile radius in and around Dublin was fine and dandy many years ago BEFORE internet and website stores... I was born and raised in Dublin and don't particularly like to drink Dr Pepper at all... But, every so often I crave one... I live 15 hours away from Dublin now (and YES I have taken the trip and made a 2 hour detour JUST to purchase DUBLIN Dr Pepper)... In my opinion th measly 1% of DPS business affected by Dublin Dr Pepper sales is insignificant to the larger coorporation...   Tthey should have modified the "territory" to include internet sales to where ever even if it's outside the 44 mile radius...  Just think of the thousands upon thousands of $$$$$ they could have saved by just being HUMAN!!!! Perrilyn Samantha Blain   

• Some does & some doesn't.  Read the labels!

• That's a whole lot of words just to end up at fail. The real issue was that corporate DP was/is ALSO making a cane sugar version for a while now, likely due to increasing consumer demand for cane sugar sweetened sodas. As Dublin DP spread outside the 44 mile radius, it was competing with the SAME product (for those that think the recipe might be different, please contact me, I'm selling the rights to bottle Dublin DP) made by corporate.   I hate to see those folks lose jobs and likely irreparable damage the town, but your righteous indignation needs to be tempered with facts. Cane sugar DP is available in 20oz plastic bottles all over the place. (Cue the "it tastes different in glass" comments).

• Also, there are TONS of posts on their facebook page with angry comments. As well as a petition with well over 16,000 signatures. http://www.change.org/petitions/plano-tx-allow-dublin-dr-pepper-bottling-co-to-continue-operations#

• I went to the DPS website, sent them my comments on how I feel about their corporate greed, then made a list of all the brands they sell to carry in my purse.  I will no longer buy any of their products.  If we all do this, we can hit them where it hurts.

• It's not about the recipe, it's about the people of Dublin and the bully (Snapple) beating them up.  They had a good thing going...help them, don't beat them down for working!

• It may very well be the end of Dr. Pepper in it's own home town and what about the people who work there?  What about the ramifications to the tiny town?  Look beyond your tiny own refirgerator Rosemary, there's a whole world out there to consider.  The thing here is that Dublin Dr. Pepper is marketing a popular product, i.e. people buy it just because it was made in Dublin.  Is Snapple so small that it can't afford Dublin's success?  Or are they just that greedy?  I fear the latter.  The courts should stay out of it and let free interprise work.

• Don't drink Dr.Pepper or Dr.Pepper products !!! SIMPLE

• what dublin dr pepper had was basically a niche/boutique product, which they had spent decades developing the identify of.  it was different than other dr pepper bottling companies, not just because it was the oldest, but because they continued to use cane sugar when everyone else abandoned it.  they persevered.  they were unique.  and not only were they allowed to do this: top dogs in corporate, as well as the corporate websites, linked to them, mentioned them, praised them, etc.  so over time their notoriety grew.  people started to search them out.  and corporate was more than happy to taut and show off this unique version of dr. pepper. then something changed.  there began to be backlash against hfcs and people were interested in the "old styles" of soda.  retro/throwback/nostalgia versions of sodas, made with real sugar, became popular.  and suddenly other dp bottlers wanted to make some extra coin on this profit trend.  but dublin dp is what was on everyone's lips, what everyone knew. why?  because they'd spent years sticking to their guns, using the more expensive ingredient.   (note this is the "brand dilution" argument corporate and other dp bottlers use.  what they mean when they say this, is that people associated pure cane sugar dp with dublin, and they wanted the stuff from dublin.  oh, that's not the legal version, that's reality.  the legal version is that dublin was diluting the value of the dp brand.  which is pretty much a bullsh!t excuse, since it's still dp, still using all of dp's logos and branding - even more so, because they used a lot of historical dp branding and stuff.  the "dilution" thing is a position the lawyers felt would have some legal traction, no doubt.) what about the other big reason corporate used: because they were selling out of their territory?  in many ways, you can thank the internet for that.  (as well as word of mouth, of course.)  word spread via the internet - even on corporate dp's own website - about cane sugar dublin dp.  their niche product became in demand, people contacted them about purchasing their product.  this didn't become an issue though until other dp bottlers thought they might be losing some sales.  none of them cared to create the product dublin dp always made, but once dublin dp became well-known and desired for it, they wanted in on the action.   so corporate stepped in and used some weak legal points to threaten dublin dp out of business.  they'd approved the bottle and can designs for dublin dp for the last decades, with dublin on them.  they'd listed them on their website.  they'd mentioned and praised them.  then, suddenly, they removed that stuff and then told them they couldn't use "dublin" on their product any more or they were violating their agreements.  they pitch it as they merely told them they could keep operating if they removed "dublin" - but that ignores that it was their identity, they'd created it with corporate's acceptance for decades, and now they wanted them to be just another cog in the corporate dp bottling/distributor chain now that the product they'd produced since the beginning had gotten popular.  then dublin had the *gall* to point all of this history out instead of capitulate.  so corporate forced the issue.  at that point, the choice for dublin dp was to lose their limbs or to lose their life.  the people of dublin got fscked over while corporate sent out form response letters saying how much they still enthusiastically support dublin and the 5k and blah blah blah.  only politicians sound more slimy. one thing i'm curious about is - was dublin going out and actively trying to get new business outside of their territory?  or was internet and word of mouth leading to people coming to them and asking for them to ship it to them?  i don't know for sure, but i would assume it was the latter.  and they said okay, and then they were breaking their territory agreements.  and the other dp bottlers, who'd sat on their hfcs asses for the last 40 years, who hadn't cared one whit about this, suddenly decided they could be losing money.  if corporate had any intelligence and backbone, they should have given dublin dp special privs as a boutique brand - instead of dropping to the lowest common bottling denominator, and having to try and smooth over this poor p.r. move. also, to all the corporate tongues talking about being able to still get the same thing - no.  some areas can (if they have the territory rights and make it) get 10 oz. nostalgia bottles.  *all* dp coming from dublin was pure can sugar, not just marked-up nostalgia bottles.  plus, this is about you fscking over a unique, shining star - the oldest in dp - a unique voice you should have held up (as you did in years past).  but you couldn't let them enjoy their success, you couldn't let them become an accepted boutique brand. screw corporate dr. pepper.

• if you grew up on this and parents from thre(relatives since 1891) it is a BIG DEAL

• this is wrong. grew up on this.  mom boran and raised in Dublin.  Still to this day frove from Granbury to Dublin to buy cases of DUBLIN Dr Pepper but will not drink Dr Pepper products ever again.  Go COKE

• Its not being bottled at Dublin anymore.  They're going to bottle the pure cane sugar stuff at other bottlers.  Dublin had to take down their Dr. Pepper signs, and lay off 14 of their 40 employees because of it.

• You don't mess with Texans....and you sure as hell dont mess with their Dr. Pepper......looks like im gonna save some money by not supporting your company anymore......

• Sad that a goliath like Dr Pepper Snapple would be afraid of Dublin Dr. Pepper.

• Companies are people too!!!11!1

• Or the parent company could have heeded the market forces and allowed them to distribute further than they were currently allowed.

• Those mouth breathing sons of bitches. It's not enough that they have their fists firmly up their own asses, now they want to shove them up the asses of everyone else too.

• All Dublin DP had to do is stop selling outside the 44-mile radius that was in a legal and binding agreement. They were given warnings to stop selling before the lawsuit began. So for those that feel like all corporations are taking over, all they were doing is protecting their rights as a company too! The product will still be the same just a different name. 

• Depends on the batch - the 12 ounce ones for the past year or so have been good about using sugar (likely beet sugar instead of cane, but still). The half-liters have been so lately as well.

• Mexican coke uses hfcs. Look it up.

• Indeed. On Dublin's website they say that in the '70s, when other bottling companies were switching to the much cheaper HFCS, Dublin made the decision to stick with cane sugar *regardless* of the bottom line.

• I'm confused..  It sounds like a win-win to me.  Dublin Bottling works will still make cane sugar dr. pepper, just without the dublin name, and now under the Dr. Pepper name.   DBW will still make all the other sodas that it made before, with no change.  So pretty much, the only change is that the DBW had their dr pepper franchising rights bought back by Dr. pepper , and the rights to call the sugar cane dr pepper they made before by the "dublin" name, but will still be making it.

• Dublin Dr. Pepper was the little engine that could....and did.  It's success was rewarded by being shut down and moved out of the family owned business and the town that supported it.  Sad day for small business.

• While our Dublin DP syrup supply should allow us to carry it on draft for a few months to come, we will not continue to carry Dr Pepper once this runs out in protest of this corporate takeover that represents the antithesis of all we stand for and work to promote.

• DR. pecker you sorry as s mofocka ss. you just destroyed what little things in life  that are good. You Ruined this poor little Texas town. Shame on you Fat cat, greedy, punkas s's. And for you, Mr dumass Lawyer for Dr Pepper, you can suck or choke on  a big fat root. Boy this pisses me off!!!!!! WTF?????? 

• this some straight bull.

• It totally blows chunks, huh, Arch?

• A Fail on the part of DPS

• i love dublin dr.pepper, the town, & the museum..but,they broke the franchise agreement with DPS..its simply business, and would've been very easy to avoid. Bad management

• I guess Dublin Dr Pepper was getting to popular, so instead of letting the market place work we will just shut them down with a law suit, now we can all enjoy the corn syrup sweeten crap together that DPS sells how sweet.

• The problem is, Dublin Dr Pepper has now been devoured by a 'large corporation'.  Large corporations typically hold little respect or understanding in regards to individuals or special histories behind the smaller businesses they absorb. It becomes ALL about the bottom line for them.  I hope DPS doesn't destroy the old wall (I've heard this wall has been safely stored for future display in the museum.) with all of the workers' signatures from the early 1900's....my granddad's name was among them.

• Seriously some pathetic people out there. Dublin isn't just a brand. It's the name of a family. When people realize "you" like dublin dr pepper too they become instant friends (not dr.pepper...DUBLIN Dr.Pepper)... The only thing the dr. pepper company did was tick off alot of people and lose respect and business.

• Hope like Hell DPS go down they made one small town close in Texas now they are trying for two that Bull Shit DPS.  

• I hope like Hell the big ass

• This is bull. Dublin Dr. Pepper will and always will be the best Dr. Pepper out there! 

• The core of the lawsuit that DPS filed against the Dublin plant was that the Dublin Dr Pepper was being distributed far outside of its approved distribution area (which is only a 44-mile radius around the Dublin plant). You can read more about it in the links in the first paragraph.

• As I noted on Facebook, "FFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU-" Maybe someday the Mothership will deign to release their version of this in our area.  Until then, Mexican Coke it is.

• It will not reference Dublin on the label...BIG difference....

• I want to be optimistic, but it's really hard knowing how corporations sometimes stop caring about niche customer bases... which let's face it, the Dublin Dr. Pepper customer base is still pretty niche at this point.

• Google it dude

• What happened? I'm confused what was the whole argumen/lawsuit about? And why doesn't Dublin get to be put on the bottles?

• This is very sad.  I cannot believe that DPS couldn't leave Dublin Dr Pepper alone.  The sad part is they say they will continue to make it like the orginial "Dublin" but doubt very seriously it will stay the same.

TotalComments: 51