I did a double-take when I walked in to a Culver’s recently and saw the sticker on the door announcing it was proudly serving Coca-Cola products.
Noooooo!
Culver’s, according to a 2021 fragment of a paywalled story at AdAge, was the only top 10 national burger chains selling Pepsi. Although Culver’s was founded in Sauk City and has historically been a Midwest chain, it recently opened a place in Gainesville, Florida. (Perhaps it’s catering to the Midwestern college students there. Or maybe Florida is joining the Big Ten.)
A Dec. 30 Sioux Center News story about the Culver’s there being remodeled is the first media coverage I’ve seen mentioning it. Eastern Iowa radio station K92.3 had a story Monday, with a Jan. 11 tweet from Culver’s included.
Elsewhere in official brand switches, the Chicago Cubs are dumping Pepsi for Coca-Cola as well. That was first reported by Sports Business Journal in June, but Chicago TV stations reported the change under way last week.
PepsiCo has not been shy about raising prices in the past year. The loss of Culver’s pretty much restricts Pepsi to the Yum Brands family among major restaurants. (I think Taco Bell decreased its food sizes while raising prices.)