Breaking News!!!McD's adds Dr. Pepper to the menu!Dr Pepper is available in 8,500 McDonald's outlets, but in the coming months will be rolled out to all of the company's 14,000 restaurants
By Mike Hughlett | Tribune reporter
10:23 AM CDT, April 27, 2009
Chicagoans with a penchant for Dr Pepper will soon be able to buy it at McDonald's, as the Oak Brook-based fast-food giant has added the soda to its national fountain lineup.
Dr Pepper is available in 8,500 McDonald's outlets, but in the coming months will be rolled out to all of the company's 14,000 restaurants. That means Dr Pepper will debut at McDonald's in a number of major markets, including Chicago, Los Angeles and Northern California.
The rollout is beginning now, but will take several months to complete, said Danya Proud, a McDonald's spokeswoman. It's not clear when the soda will be available at Chicago-area McDonald's restaurants.
Monday's announcement means Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. has cracked McDonald's "core" fountain beverage line-up, which is dominated by Coca-Cola Co. products, including Diet Coke, Sprite and Hi-C Orange.
To make room for Dr Pepper, McDonald's dumped Coke's Powerade. However, Powerade Mountain Blast and Coke's vitaminwater XXX (Triple X) will be available regionally at McDonald's in bottles.
Diet Dr Pepper will also likely be showing up more often at McDonald's. It's sold at 3,500 U.S. outlets, but now will be available as a regional option to McDonald's franchisees.
With the growing presence of Dr Pepper, McDonald's has dropped Coke's Mr. Pibb as a regional beverage, Proud said.
Dr. Pepper has been served at McDonald's for decades, but only in the past 10 years has its availability increased steadily, said Wayne Wittman, vice president of national accounts at Dr. Pepper Snapple.
"It's big," Wittman said of Dr. Pepper's national deal with McDonald's, though he declined to quantify its impact on his company's sales.