Labor Day brings cheap soft drinks, average-priced beer

By Jeremiah McWilliams

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

If you're shopping for cheap two-liters of soft drinks this Labor Day, you're in luck. But if you're looking for deeply discounted beer...not so much.

Prices on two-liter packages of soft drinks are down as much as the high teen percentages, according to a survey by Connecticut-based Consumer Edge Research, which studied advertised prices at retailers representing 15,000 stores across the U.S. PepsiCo and Dr Pepper Snapple are cutting prices more aggressively than is Coca-Cola, according to the survey.

(Prices for canned soft drinks are flat and higher in some instances, meaning that the industry average prices are down in the low- to mid-single digits.)

Meanwhile, beer prices are down only slightly, with some brands showing price increases heading into one of the biggest beer-drinking holidays of the year.

Relative to the Fourth of July, prices  for "premium" brands such as Budweiser are down 2 percent, about the same as Coors Light. Miller Lite prices are actually 1.5 percent higher than on the July 4th weekend.

Prices for sub-premium beer such as Natural Light and Keystone Light are "flattish" compared to a year ago and down about 1 percent from July 4th, according to Consumer Edge Research.

Meanwhile, prices for Corona and Heineken are up 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively, compared to a year ago.

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