A Texas judge ruled on Monday that Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. can end its long-term partnership with Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling. The ruling allows Dr Pepper's parent company to exercise full control over its own distribution system.
This means that in areas where Coke bottlers previously handled Dr Pepper's distribution, some Coke-affiliated fountain locations may lose access to Dr Pepper syrup, Yahoo Finance reported.
When that happens, places such as restaurants and theaters could swap in Coca-Cola's Mr. Pibb, which the company described as "intensely flavored, refreshing, spicy cherry alternative."
Coca-Cola first introduced Mr. Pibb in 1972 to compete with Dr Pepper.
"We look forward to bringing this distribution of the Dr Pepper trademark into Keurig Dr Pepper's DSD system this fall, further building scale in our routes to market," Keurig said in a statement, according to Bloomberg .
The courtroom battle began in 2024, when Keurig, which has headquarters in both Burlington, Massachusetts, and Texas, filed a lawsuit in Texas seeking confirmation that it could end its license agreement with Reyes Coca-Cola.
The bottler, which supplies Coke products to parts of California and Nevada, attempted to block the move in a California court, arguing that franchise law protected it, but that case was dismissed, Yahoo Finance wrote.
During the summer, a Texas judge ruled that Dr Pepper had the right not to renew the contract and set Oct. 27 as the termination date.
Reyes Coca-Cola expressed its disappointment in a statement to Just Drinks , saying it was "disappointed in the court's ruling and respectfully disagree with the decision. We believe the facts and the law support a different outcome. At this time, we are carefully evaluating all of our options, including the possibility of an appeal. We remain committed to pursuing the best path forward and will continue to act in the best interests of our stakeholders."
The ruling comes after Coca-Cola relaunched a new version of Mr. Pibb that has been reformulated to pack 30% more caffeine than Pibb Xtra (a change from 41 milligrams to 54 milligrams per 12 ounces), according to AOL .
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