Community Corner
Thirsty at Kennedy Rec Center? Pepsi's the New Pop of Choice
After a 10-year run with Coca-Cola, the Kennedy Recreation Center will now offer its visitors Pepsi products, including Gatorade.
is changing things up: The official soft drink of KRC is now Pepsi.
Finishing up a 10-year contract with Coca-Cola, Trenton Director of Parks and Recreation Pat Hawkins suggested to city council in the fall that KRC look into switching up suppliers for economic reasons.
"This in no way indicates a poor relationship we have with Coke," Hawkins said. "Pepsi just offered us more overall in options and in sponsorship rebates."
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Hawkins said that he thought it would be a good idea to get proposed packages from both companies to see what ways the popular Trenton landmark could save money. In October, he received proposals from both companies. Ultimately, they chose Pepsi and the switch was made a few weeks ago.
Hawkins said that while Coca-Cola and Diet Coke are clearly the #1 and #2 soft drink flavors, not far behind it is Pepsi and its diet partner. Where Hawkins feels KRC visitors will be more satisfied in the coming years is in the supporting cast of flavors Pepsi offers compared to Coca-Cola, including Cherry Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Aquafina, Mountain Dew and the kicker, Gatorade.
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"Being an athletic venue, getting Gatorade is huge for us," Hawkins said. "Gatorade dominates the sports drink market."
So far, it looks like the new three-year contract with Pepsi was the right move. In the last six weeks, sales of Pepsi products already equal 35 percent of the Coke volume they sold last year, Hawkins said. "It sure does look like we made the right move so far," he said.
