Fresca may be difficult to find, but it will be back in stock soon. COVID-19 impacted production of Fresca temporarily. Coca-Cola has stated that production is back to normal levels and that it will be returning to short shelves soon.

That’s great news! But where is it?

Where can I buy Fresca?

Fresca is still hard to find in cans. But, there are many retailers that have 2 liter bottles of Fresca in stock. Here are a few common places:

• Fresca at Amazon Fresh 2 liter for $2.20
• Fresca at Walmart 2 liter for $1.25 (pick up only!)
• Fresca at Target in a few different sizes

When will the Fresca shortage be over?

The increased demand for aluminum is still causing issues for all beverage manufacturers as of October 2021. As a result, it’s not certain when your favorite canned beverage will be back, including Fresca. In other words, don’t hold your breath for Fresca in cans.

Fresca in 2 liter bottles is readily available. Some people have found Fresca in cans at their local market. If you come across it, buy it! It may disappear and not come back for a while.

Alternatives during the Fresca shortage

Considering how popular Fresca is, there are not many similar alternatives. I could only find these alternatives that have the same combination of full-flavor, sugar free grapefruit:

• Wegmans Diet Wedge. Wegmans makes Wedge Diet soda that comes in plain grapefruit but also combos with grapefruit. It’s normally available in cans but looks like only 2 liter bottles are available. The four flavors available on the Wegmans site.
• Diet Squirt. This is probably the closest competitor to Fresca. It was in stock on Amazon in 20oz bottles when I checked Oct 11th, but there was only one in stock.

Other diet citrus alternatives

While they won’t taste like Fresca, there are several citrus-flavored diet sodas that might work for you until the Fresca shortage is over. Most of these are some combination of lemon, lime and orange flavors. They’ll likely be missing the bitter flavor characteristic of grapefruit, but will have the citrus punch.

• Diet Sun Drop. A lesser known competitor to 7up and Sprite. Sun Drop has been around for a long time in the South. Citrus flavor with caffeine. Sun Drop is available in cans on Amazon.
• Diet Mello Yello. More of a competitor to Mountain Dew than Fresca. Mello Yello packs a lot of citrus flavor, but also a ton of caffeine. Mello Yello is available in 20oz bottles on Amazon.
• Diet Mountain Dew. Just like Mello Yello, this contains lots of citrus flavor, but also caffeine. Mountain Dew is available in cans through Amazon Fresh.
• Diet 7up. This may not have been obvious as an alternative because the brand is so iconic. But, 7up is based on lemon and lime flavors. Caffeine free. 7UP is available in a 12 pack of cans on Amazon.
• Sprite Zero. Just like 7up, this is an iconic lemon lime soda. Caffeine free. Sprite Zero is available in a 12-pack of cans on Amazon.

Shortages affecting beverages

There are three main shortages affecting the Fresca shortage and other beverage manufacturing.

Aluminum is in short supply because of the high demand for sodas in cans. This is because more people are working from home and are buying canned sodas at home. The flip side of this is a major drop in the demand for sodas syrups in fountain machines because many restaurants are either closed or have reduced business.

Artificial sweeteners are nearly all made in China. When COVID-19 started there were some manufacturing plants in China that had to shut down. Most of them have since resumed production, but they are still trying to catch up on orders that came through while they were offline.

Many beverage bottling plants in the US were temporarily shut down at the start of the pandemic. Some remain operating at lower capacity because some workers have not returned to work because of safety concerns. This has caused manufacturers like Coca-Cola to temporarily stop production of some beverages so they can keep up with demand of their primary products.

Other beverages in short supply

One of the hardest hit categories of beverages has been caffeine free versions of major sodas such as Caffeine Free Coca-Cola and Pepsi Caffeine Free. Both of these have been temporarily suspended.

Read other stories I wrote about major beverage shortages:

• Caffeine Free Coca-Cola
• Coke Zero
• Pepsi Caffeine Free

Other flavors have also been suspended such as Cherry Coke Zero and other less popular variations.

Print

Homemade Fresca

Here is a way you can make your own Fresca using Sodastream's diet grapefruit mix.

Equipment

• Sodastream (optional)

Ingredients

• 12 oz Carbonated water Canned, botted or using Sodastream
• 15-20 ml Sodastream pink grapefruit syrup Adjust to your taste

Instructions

• Add syrup to carbonated water.
• Enjoy!

Notes

This is not really a recipe, but a simple way to enjoy Sodastream’s pink grapefruit sugar-free syrup even if you don’t have their carbonating kit. Simply add 15-20ml of the syrup to 12oz of carbonated water. You can get the syrup on Amazon for about $5, which makes enough for 25 – 12 oz servings.

Fresca FAQ

The post Fresca shortage in 2020? appeared first on Frugal Cooking.

Pepsi Caffeine Free is not permanently discontinued. There is a spike in demand for canned soft drinks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, there is a shortage of aluminum used for beverage cans. Most soft drink manufacturers have temporarily limited production of some products until the aluminum shortage is resolved.

Rest assured that Pepsi Caffeine Free will return soon. In the meantime, it may be possible to find it occasionally in supermarkets and online.

Where can I buy Caffeine Free Pepsi?

Walmart gets a high priority from manufacturers. So, their website is a good place to check for stock. As of 6/01/2021, Walmart was back in stock. Here is the link so you can check yourself.

Amazon also has pull with manufacturers, but they are also a marketplace. So, smaller vendors can jump in if they have any stock. On 10/23/2020, many of the items were back in stock. Here are the links:

• 12-pack on Amazon (in stock)
• 18-pack on Amazon (in stock)
• 24-pack on Amazon (in stock)

I checked Target’s website. They don’t seem to ship any sodas. You will need to go to your local Target to see if they have any.

Coke Zero Info

Caffeine Free Coke info

Check for bottles (but not 2 liter) at your supermarket

Unfortunately, Pepsi discontinued the 2 liter bottles. So, you won’t find in big bottles. It is still sold in 6-packs of 16.9 oz bottles. I haven’t seen these online but you might find them in your supermarket.

There is a Facebook page to support bringing it back the 2 liter bottle.

Watch out for grocery delivery

Grocery delivery sites like Instacart and Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods often don’t have up-to-date information about stock on their websites. This means it may look like its in stock, when in fact it is not.

I recently tried to buy Pepsi Caffeine Free from Instacart through Target. The website said it was in stock, so I put it in my cart. The minimum order was $35 (I think) so I added a bunch of random stuff until I hit $35. Soon after I placed the order, I got a note from the shopper that everything was in stock, EXCEPT the Pepsi. Ugh.

Is Caffeine Free Coke available?

Nope. Caffeine Free Coke is suffering the same issue. Here is our article about why you also aren’t able to get Caffeine Free Coke.

If Coke Zero is an alternative for you, here is our full post on Coke Zero.

Diet Pepsi Caffeine Free

Diet Pepsi Caffeine Free is available if you can handle the artificial sweeteners. I know most of you are probably here because you can’t handle the artificial sweeteners or don’t like using them. This might be a good time to try something new, or try making your own using the recipe below.

Make your own!

If you can’t find your favorite caffeine free soda you can make your own.

Print

Caffeine Free Cola Recipe

If you can't find your favorite caffeine free cola, make your own! This is a bit crazy, but if you're desperate, why not try it. It's all natural and quick to make.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Servings 12 people

Ingredients

• 1 quart water
• 7 1/2 cups sugar about 2lbs
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• 2 oranges, zest and juice
• 3 cinnamon sticks, broken or 1/4 tsp ground
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 slices fresh ginger or 1/4 tsp ground dried ginger
• 1/4 cup Kitchen Bouquet or other browning sauce
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

• Add water, sugar, fruit zest, cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg and ginger into a sauce pot over high heat. Bring to a boil for 1 minute and then turn off the heat. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Add fruit juices, Kitchen Bouquet and vanilla.
• Strain mixture.
• To make a cola drink, add 1/2 cup of syrup to 1 1/2 cups carbonated water. Mix gently and add ice.
• Store leftover syrup in the refrigerator for two weeks.

Notes

This isn’t going to taste exactly like Coca-Cola or Pepsi, but will definitely be recognizable as cola. But, it’s caffeine free!

Related Questions

The post What happened to Caffeine Free Pepsi? appeared first on Frugal Cooking.

You haven’t been able to find Coke Zero at the normal places. Supermarkets have been sold out and some online stores are out of stock. You’re wondering if they stopped making it. What is going on?

Coke Zero has not been discontinued. Increased demand for sodas at home has created a shortage of aluminum for cans. In addition, there are disruptions in the supply of artificial sweeteners caused by COVID-19. These issues are causing a temporary shortage of many canned beverages.

Is there anywhere I can find Coke Zero in 2020?

Coca-Cola Zero Sugar is likely available from these online retailers. Some listings mention that there are limited amounts left, so you may find some are sold out by the time you read this. There is both high demand and limited supply. Use the links below to check stock levels.

[Stock levels updated Oct 20, 2020]

• Amazon: Coke Zero (15 cans, in stock), Coke Zero (35 cans, in stock) & Cherry Coke Zero (24 bottles, in stock)
• Walmart (12 pack cans, in stock)
• Target (12 pack cans, in stock some locations)

Zero sugar cola alternatives

No Coca-Cola fans like to hear this, but the best alternative to Coke Zero is Pepsi Zero Sugar. It really is the second best=tasting cola without sugar you’re going to be able to get right now. Pepsi Zero Sugar link on Amazon

Zevia makes a very popular all natural sugar free cola. But, believe me, it doesn’t taste anything like Coke Zero. It’s got a lighter taste that will take getting used to. But, if you can get used to it, there make a ton of other flavors like cherry cola, ginger root beer, a Dr. Pepper clone, and a bunch more. Zevia is currently in stock at Amazon Fresh

When will Coke Zero be back?

As of August 2020, there is still no resolution to the aluminum shortage. The high demand for sodas at home has permanently increased the worldwide need for aluminum for cans. As long as more people are out of work or working from home the demand will stay high. It will likely take several years for the worldwide supply of aluminum to increase to meet the demand.

The artificial sweetener shortage has just started in mid-Summer 2020. Factory disruptions in China have caused the supply of sweeteners to be unpredictable. Most factories making sweeteners have reopened but no one is sure that they will remain open. They will also need to catch up with the demand which has remained constant.

Cola shortage information

Caffeine Free Coke Info

Pepsi Caffeine Free info

Related Questions

The post Is there a Coke Zero shortage in 2020? Discontinued? appeared first on Frugal Cooking.

[ Updated 12/27/2020 ]

Caffeine Free Coke has not been permanently discontinued. The COVID-19 crisis has caused a shortage in aluminum cans, which caused Coca-Cola to temporarily stop producing Caffeine Free Coke. Most other beverage manufacturers have also limited less popular drins until the shortage is resolved.

So, take a deep breath and relax. Caffeine Free Coke will be back, but probably not until at least mid-2021.

Where can I find Caffeine Free Coke?

Right now, I haven’t been able to find any place that has cans. A few retailers say they have 2L bottles in stock but supplies seem very limited. Fortunately, cans will likely return but not until at least mid-2021.

Some independent online stores may list Caffeine Free Coke, but expect to pay 10x the normal price. Be wary of any store that claims to have a lot of stock of cans.

See below for some caffeine-free alternatives which will have to do until your favorite is back.

If you can handle caffeine free diet…

Stock status updated 10/20/2020:

• Caffeine Free Diet Coke is available on Amazon here (in stock)
• Caffeine Free Diet Coke 35 pack on Amazon (in stock)
• Caffeine Free Diet Coke 18 pack on Amazon (in stock)
• Amazon Fresh now has Diet Caffeine Free Coke in 12 packs for only $5.59! (out of stock)

More Coke Zero Info

Pepsi Caffeine Free info

Do they still make Caffeine Free Coke?

Coca-Cola is producing Caffeine Free Coke in limited supply while it figures out how to adjust to the increased demand for sodas at home.

I have a family member who works for Coca-Cola. Even employees didn’t initially know what was going on. She thought Coca-Cola stopped producing Caffeine Free Coke temporarily as a result of COVID-19 impacts on the supply of raw materials.

Later, she figured out the issue was actually a shortage of aluminum cans that caused Coca-Cola to limit the amount of flavors produced. So, it’s definitely a raw materials issue- aluminum! Who would have thought the shortage was cans?!?!?

In addition to the shortage of cans, there was also a massive shift in the demand from restaurants to homes. Manufacturers are still struggling with changing their supply from syrup tanks and fountain dispensers to cans and bottles packaged for home.

Coca-Cola’s Official Statement

Many people have asked about Caffeine Free Coke on Facebook. Coca-Cola responds to all the questions with the same post:

Caffeine free Coca-Cola has not been discontinued. Like many companies, we are seeing greater demand for products consumed at home, and we are taking measures to adapt to the demand. We are working closely with our customers and our suppliers to mitigate the challenge during this unprecedented time. We appreciate your loyalty to our beverages and please know that we are working hard to keep the products you love on store shelves.

Coca-Cola Facebook Page

Coca-Cola has made many official statements regarding their response to COVID-19. Here are a few quotes specifically related to availability of their products:

Local grocery stores, retailers and restaurants are working hard to ensure families can get the food, beverages and supplies they need during this challenging time. We are doing everything we can to support these businesses and everyone they serve.

Coca-Cola

To ensure our products’ availability, we maintain business continuity plans to address any supply chain challenges that could arise.

Coca–Cola

Coca-Cola produced a lot of content on their COVID-19 efforts worldwide:

• Coca-Cola Reshapes Beverage Portfolio…
• How Coca-Cola is responding to COVID-19
• Coca-Cola North America

Contact Coca-Cola

You can contact Coca-Cola yourself. You can email their consumer relations department. Here is the email address: consumer.relations@coca-cola.com

I emailed consumer relations at Coca-Cola for a status of Caffeine Free Coke. I received the following templated response. It’s not very helpful, but I appreciate that they responded at all…

We appreciate your interest in our products and brands. Like many companies, we are seeing greater demand for products consumed at home, and we are taking measures to adapt to the demand. We are working closely with our customers and our suppliers to mitigate the challenge during this unprecedented time.

Please feel free to use this product locator to find some additional locations to find your favorite brands. http://locator.coke.com/lct-web/ Be aware that the stores listed have ordered the product recently, but do not show their current inventory, so we recommend calling ahead to ensure that they have the product in stock.

We are excited to now offer on-line purchasing of select products on Amazon Pantry which is available to Amazon Prime members. Please visit Amazon.com for additional information or The Coca-Cola online store https://beverages.cokestore.com/. At this time, there is no additional way to purchase or order product directly from us.

Thank you for letting us know about the situation at your local store(s), which we will look into. We appreciate your loyalty to our beverages and please know that we are working hard to keep the products you love on store shelves.

We currently have no estimated timeframe for replenishing stock. Thank you for your continued patience.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.

Email response from Coca-Cola

What about Caffeine Free Diet Coke?

Caffeine Free DIet Coke initially suffered from a shortage, but is mostly back in stock online and in supermarkets. It goes in and out of stock quickly, though, because of high demand. So, if you see it available, buy it!

Watch out for prices online, though. They can be super expensive right now! I’ve seen a 12-pack going for close to $20 online. That is a serious rip off. If you’re desperate, I guess it could still be worth it.

What about Diet Coke and Coke Zero?

Coca-Cola announced that there could be long term impacts to supplies of Diet Coke and Coke Zero. The artificial sweeteners used in those products is in short supply. So far, those products remain on store shelves and available online. Hopefully, this won’t impact the same way as Caffeine Free Coke. I have a full post on the status of Coke Zero here.

Coca-Cola said… that its supply chain could be disrupted in the long term as coronavirus continues to spread. The beverage manufacturer also said it depends on suppliers in China for certain sweeteners added to its diet and zero sugar drinks.

USA Today

Is caffeine free Pepsi or Dr Pepper an alternative?

If you thought you might get through these tough times with a caffeine free Pepsi, think again. It seems that quite a few people had the same idea and caffeine free Pepsi has now disappeared from store shelves and online retailers as well. Pepsi also limited production of certain beverages as well.

Here is our full post on what is happening with Pepsi Caffeine Free here.

Caffeine Free Dr Pepper was on store shelves and available online until late July but now is out of stock from most stores too.

Alternatives

There are several companies that make cola syrup you can use to make your own caffeine free cola. Here is the best deal on Amazon for caffeine free cola syrup.

You can also try making your own. Below is a recipe I put together…

Print

Caffeine Free Cola Recipe

If you can't find your favorite caffeine free cola, make your own! This is a bit crazy, but if you're desperate, why not try it. It's all natural and quick to make.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Servings 12 people

Ingredients

• 1 quart water
• 7 1/2 cups sugar about 2lbs
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• 2 oranges, zest and juice
• 3 cinnamon sticks, broken or 1/4 tsp ground
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 slices fresh ginger or 1/4 tsp ground dried ginger
• 1/4 cup Kitchen Bouquet or other browning sauce
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

• Add water, sugar, fruit zest, cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg and ginger into a sauce pot over high heat. Bring to a boil for 1 minute and then turn off the heat. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Add fruit juices, Kitchen Bouquet and vanilla.
• Strain mixture.
• To make a cola drink, add 1/2 cup of syrup to 1 1/2 cups carbonated water. Mix gently and add ice.
• Store leftover syrup in the refrigerator for two weeks.

Notes

This isn’t going to taste exactly like Coca-Cola or Pepsi, but will definitely be recognizable as cola. But, it’s caffeine free!

What other caffeine free sodas are available?

There are many soft drinks that do not contain caffeine. In fact, way too many to list here when you include regional brands. Your best bet is to go to your local supermarket and look for sodas you think you would be happy with and check the label for caffeine.

Since caffeine is an added ingredient in nearly all sodas, it is listed as an ingredient in the standardized ingredients list that is on all food products sold in the US. A quick look at the label will tell you if the soda contains any caffeine. If you don’t see caffeine in the ingredient list, it should be caffeine free. Maybe you’ll even find something new you like just as much!

News stories on the aluminum shortage

• Fact check: Dr Pepper shortage? No. But aluminum can shortage may be behind lack of supply
• Another shortage! Beer, soda makers struggle with aluminum can supply, plan to limit niche drinks

Related Questions

The post What happened to Caffeine Free Coke? Discontinued? appeared first on Frugal Cooking.