Los Angeles is the best city in the country to sell imported soda, and it is not close. Half the customers walking into a corner market grew up with a specific bottle, and the other half saw it at a taqueria or on a friend’s table and want to try it. The trick is knowing which imports are asked for by name and which ones sit. After a few years of watching reorder data out of our South Los Angeles warehouse, the list below is the one that keeps repeating. Every item on it is in our wholesale soda catalog or the water section right now.
Building an international cooler door? Browse the full catalog or send us your store type and we will draft a starting mix.
Mexico: the foundation of the door
If you stock one country, stock Mexico. The brands below are not a trend in Los Angeles, they are a baseline, and a market without them loses customers to the one down the street that has them.
- Jarritos. The glass bottle fruit soda made with real sugar. Mandarin and tamarind are the two you cannot be out of. Strawberry, pineapple, lime and grapefruit round out a facing. It comes in 12 ounce glass and in 2 liter plastic for family shoppers.
- Sidral Mundet. Apple soda since 1902, gentle and sweet, the one grandparents buy for kids. Green apple is the newer sibling.
- Sangría Señorial. The non alcoholic sangria flavored soda. It sounds strange to newcomers and sells constantly to everyone else. Keep it cold and near the Jarritos.
- Topo Chico. Mineral water from Monterrey, bottled since 1895, with harder carbonation than anything else in the cooler. Bars, restaurants and office kitchens all order it. The grapefruit “Twist” version is a strong second facing.
- Tehuacán Brillante. Sparkling mineral water from Puebla, the mineral water town of Mexico. Lighter than Topo Chico, and the customers who know it are loyal.
- Jarritos Mineragua. The sparkling water from the Jarritos family, for the customer who wants the label without the sugar.
Serve note for restaurants: Mexican glass goes to the table in the bottle with a glass of ice and a lime. Do not pour it in the back. The bottle is half the sale.
Japan: the bottle that sells itself
Sangaria Ramune is the codd neck bottle with a glass marble in the neck. You push the marble down to open it, and it rattles while you drink. That is the whole pitch, and it works on every age. Original is the flavor to start with, then orange and strawberry. It is a 200 milliliter bottle, so it retails well above its size, and the packaging does the selling from across the store. Put it at eye level near the register, not in the cooler bottom shelf where nobody can see the marble.
Who buys it: anyone under thirty, families, anime fans, and every restaurant that serves sushi or ramen. It is also a strong seller for events and parties because it photographs well.
Australia: a ginger beer that is actually brewed
Bundaberg is brewed for three days from real ginger and cane sugar, which is why it tastes nothing like the ginger ale next to it. The stubby bottle with the pull ring is instantly recognizable. Ginger beer is the anchor, and the fruit sodas, passionfruit especially, pull in customers who would never buy a ginger beer.
Who buys it: bars for mules and dark and stormies, gastropubs, higher end markets, and anyone who reads labels. It is a premium bottle and it should be priced like one. We carry it in the soda category in 24 packs.
Italy and France: the sparkling classics
- San Pellegrino. The Italian sparkling fruit drinks in the foil topped can. Aranciata, limonata, pompelmo, and the cherry and lemon blend. They read as adult, they pair with food, and they are the easiest way to give a lunch counter a European feel.
- Orangina. The French bulb shaped bottle with real orange pulp, lightly sparkling. Shake it gently and it is a different drink. Sells at cafes, delis and bakeries, and to customers who grew up in Europe or North Africa.
- Maison Perrier. The flavored sparkling line from Perrier, in blackberry, orange and lime, for the customer who wants bubbles without sugar. Find it in the still and sparkling water section.
These three do their best work in restaurants and cafes rather than corner markets, where the customer is sitting down and the can or bottle is part of the table.
The imports that surprise people
A few facings that are not obvious but move well once they are in.
- Fanta imports. The exotic flavors that never made it to the American line, like Fanta Green Cream, sell to customers who follow snack and soda accounts online. Small facing, steady turns.
- Just Ice Tea. Not an import, but it sits in the same “read the label” shopper’s basket. Organic brewed tea in 16 ounce glass, in Peach Oolong, Original Green and Half and Half. New this month in the tea section.
- Non alcoholic beers from Europe. Heineken 0.0, Stella Artois 0.0 and Corona Non Alcoholic all arrived in the non alcoholic beer category, and they are the fastest growing “import” ask at bars and markets right now.
How to build the door
Start with one full cooler door and treat it like a map. Top shelf, Mexico: Jarritos in two or three flavors, Sidral, Sangría Señorial. Second shelf, the mineral waters: Topo Chico and Tehuacán. Third shelf, the rest of the world: Ramune, Bundaberg, San Pellegrino, Orangina. Bottom shelf, the 2 liter Jarritos for families.
Face everything with the label forward and keep the glass at the front. Rotate the flavors by watching your reorders for four weeks, then cut the two slowest and double the two fastest. An international door built this way usually ends up as one of the highest margin doors in the store, because every bottle on it retails above the national brand can next to it.
Pricing the import wall
The import door only works if the ladder is visible. National brand can at the bottom, domestic glass a step up, imported glass a step above that, and the specialty bottles like Ramune and Bundaberg at the top. Customers accept the ladder without a word as long as it is consistent across the door. Where stores lose money is pricing an import at the can price out of nervousness, then wondering why the margin on the best looking door in the store is the thinnest. Keep the flavor count tight as well. Two or three flavors of a brand faced deep outsell six flavors faced one wide, and they are easier to keep cold and rotated. Add a flavor only when the reorders on the existing ones are steady.
Frequently asked questions
Which imported sodas sell best in Los Angeles?
Jarritos, Topo Chico and Sidral Mundet are the top three by reorder volume, followed by Ramune, Bundaberg and San Pellegrino. Mexican brands are the baseline in almost every neighborhood.
Do you deliver imported sodas to restaurants as well as stores?
Yes. Local orders around Los Angeles ride on our own trucks from the South Los Angeles warehouse, and orders beyond the local radius ship on wrapped pallets anywhere in the country. Enter your ZIP in the checker at the bottom of any page to see your zone and minimum.
Are Jarritos and Sidral made with real sugar?
Yes, both are sugar sweetened, which is a big part of why customers ask for them by name. We cover the difference in detail in our cane sugar guide.
What is the minimum order for imported sodas?
Minimums are set by delivery zone, not by product. Most of the brands above come in 24 packs (Ramune in 18 packs, Topo Chico and Tehuacán in 12 packs), and you can mix cases across brands to hit the zone minimum.
Do imported glass bottles carry California CRV?
Yes. CRV applies to the container regardless of where it was bottled, and it is itemized on every invoice so your shelf price can carry it.
When you are ready to build the door, the wholesale catalog has everything above, and you can reach us for a starting mix by store type.