KFC Sugar Tax Issue

sweetgirl2015

Apologies if this is not in the correct section but I wanted to share my experience to see if anyone else has suffered this problem.

We visited our local KFC recently, and started our order, then the girl at the til said what drinks would you like so I asked for a regular coke which is what I always have, yet the girl said oh sorry sir regulat coke has been permanently discontinued due to a sugar tax issue, we only offer the diet alternatives, which left me a bit dismayed as I don't like the taste of diet drinks.
So I settled for a milkshake, not happy but what could I do. 

What I find strange is Macdonalds still sells regular coke, so if its a sugar tax issue why has it only affected KFC.

I feel the customer has been denied the choice of paying more for a drink via sugar tax which I would be happy to do, and I am sure many others would do.

What are peoples thoughts on this? 

IvanOpinion

They actually had any form of Coke - you are lucky, ours only has the much inferior offering of Pepsi

Andy_L

sweetgirl2015 said:

Apologies if this is not in the correct section but I wanted to share my experience to see if anyone else has suffered this problem.

We visited our local KFC recently, and started our order, then the girl at the til said what drinks would you like so I asked for a regular coke which is what I always have, yet the girl said oh sorry sir regulat coke has been permanently discontinued due to a sugar tax issue, we only offer the diet alternatives, which left me a bit dismayed as I don't like the taste of diet drinks.
So I settled for a milkshake, not happy but what could I do. 

What I find strange is Macdonalds still sells regular coke, so if its a sugar tax issue why has it only affected KFC.

I feel the customer has been denied the choice of paying more for a drink via sugar tax which I would be happy to do, and I am sure many others would do.

What are peoples thoughts on this? 

KFC have taken the commercial decision to not sell "full fat" coke. McD have come to a different commercial conclusion and are continuing to sell it

sheramber

MacD will have included the amount of the tax in their pricing.

KFC have decided to sell it. 

A business decision which probably reflects the sales figures for each.

pulliptears

I'm allergic to aspartame so have boycotted KFC for a while.  Within minutes of ingesting it I get crippling stomach cramps and then later the migraine hits.  It does make me really ill and I have to be extremely careful with labels.
Local experiences are as follows (cant speak for national obviously)

KFC only diet drinks.  Wont even allow a bottled water with a meal.  No longer visit.
Pizza Hut only diet drinks, can have tap water or, somewhat ironically, as many beers as I want!  No longer visit.
Taco Bell only diet drinks with meal deals.  Offered to pay the extra and explained I have an allergy, lovely manager gave me a bottled coke with a wink.
McDonalds full sugar drinks available
Burger King full sugar drinks available

I have issues in a lot of pubs as well as even though I always ask for a 'full fat coke or pepsi' they will almost always go to the pumps which are almost always diet syrups.  Mostly I have to purchase a small bottle of coke which usually work out more expensive than a pint of beer.

minimad1970

pulliptears said:

I'm allergic to aspartame so have boycotted KFC for a while.  Within minutes of ingesting it I get crippling stomach cramps and then later the migraine hits.  It does make me really ill and I have to be extremely careful with labels.
Local experiences are as follows (cant speak for national obviously)

KFC only diet drinks.  Wont even allow a bottled water with a meal.  No longer visit.

My son always has bottled water with his meal at our local KFC, it's never been a problem.

pulliptears

minimad1970 said:

pulliptears said:

I'm allergic to aspartame so have boycotted KFC for a while.  Within minutes of ingesting it I get crippling stomach cramps and then later the migraine hits.  It does make me really ill and I have to be extremely careful with labels.
Local experiences are as follows (cant speak for national obviously)

KFC only diet drinks.  Wont even allow a bottled water with a meal.  No longer visit.

My son always has bottled water with his meal at our local KFC, it's never been a problem.

I did say it was my experience locally.  As KFC is franchised I imagine all are different.

mattyprice4004

IvanOpinion said:

They actually had any form of Coke - you are lucky, ours only has the much inferior offering of Pepsi

It won't have been Coke - all KFCs only serve Pepsi at least in the UK anyway. 

OP, if they want to avoid the additional tax complications associated with the levy then that's fair enough - vote with your feet, or take your own can of Pepsi / Coke in with you and order items without a drink. 
That's what a good friend of mine does; I'm sure one say someone will have a moan at him, but he's done it regularly for a long time now (as he only likes Coke, not Pepsi). 

jon81uk

mattyprice4004 said:

IvanOpinion said:

They actually had any form of Coke - you are lucky, ours only has the much inferior offering of Pepsi

It won't have been Coke - all KFCs only serve Pepsi at least in the UK anyway. 

OP, if they want to avoid the additional tax complications associated with the levy then that's fair enough - vote with your feet, or take your own can of Pepsi / Coke in with you and order items without a drink. 
That's what a good friend of mine does; I'm sure one say someone will have a moan at him, but he's done it regularly for a long time now (as he only likes Coke, not Pepsi). 

KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell used to be owned by PepsiCo so they have only sold Pepsi since the 80s.

Its up to KFC what they want to sell and if they’ve decided not to sell regular Pepsi that is their decision, you can choose not to purchase anything from them if you wish.

for the person who can’t get water in the meal, have you tried ordering using the app? That allows water, or for an extra 40p Tropicana orange juice.

tempus_fugit

pulliptears said:

I'm allergic to aspartame so have boycotted KFC for a while.  Within minutes of ingesting it I get crippling stomach cramps and then later the migraine hits.  It does make me really ill and I have to be extremely careful with labels.
Local experiences are as follows (cant speak for national obviously)

KFC only diet drinks.  Wont even allow a bottled water with a meal.  No longer visit.
Pizza Hut only diet drinks, can have tap water or, somewhat ironically, as many beers as I want!  No longer visit.
Taco Bell only diet drinks with meal deals.  Offered to pay the extra and explained I have an allergy, lovely manager gave me a bottled coke with a wink.
McDonalds full sugar drinks available
Burger King full sugar drinks available

I have issues in a lot of pubs as well as even though I always ask for a 'full fat coke or pepsi' they will almost always go to the pumps which are almost always diet syrups.  Mostly I have to purchase a small bottle of coke which usually work out more expensive than a pint of beer.

I never take the drinks at any takeaway, but it's amazing how hard it is to actually do that. They say "but it's included in the price" and insist that you take it. One time they offered extra chips instead but I wasn't wanting that either as the portions I take are enough (and the constant urging for you to "go large" is irritating, no I don't want to be any larger, lol). Now it's easier just to take the crappy drinks and pour them out the side of the car, they're just coloured, carbonated water anyway.

Tokmon

sweetgirl2015 said:

Apologies if this is not in the correct section but I wanted to share my experience to see if anyone else has suffered this problem.

We visited our local KFC recently, and started our order, then the girl at the til said what drinks would you like so I asked for a regular coke which is what I always have, yet the girl said oh sorry sir regulat coke has been permanently discontinued due to a sugar tax issue, we only offer the diet alternatives, which left me a bit dismayed as I don't like the taste of diet drinks.
So I settled for a milkshake, not happy but what could I do. 

What I find strange is Macdonalds still sells regular coke, so if its a sugar tax issue why has it only affected KFC.

I feel the customer has been denied the choice of paying more for a drink via sugar tax which I would be happy to do, and I am sure many others would do.

What are peoples thoughts on this? 

So you went to KFC and ordered a drink they don't even sell and they replied saying it's discontinued when as far as i know they have never sold it, that seems a bit strange.