Coke Partners With Burger King

MIAMI -- Burger King Corp. has dropped Pepsico Inc.'s Tropicana orange juice in favor of a rival Coca-Cola brand in the hamburger chain's 8,500 restaurants in the United States.

Miami-based Burger King, the number-two hamburger chain and a unit of British drinks group Diageo Plc, said Minute Maid 100-percent Florida Orange Juice would be the only orange juice served in its restaurants nationwide as of Jan. 1, 2002, Reuters reported.

Minute Maid is a division of Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co., the world's No. 1 soft drink company. A number of other Coke products are already served in Burger King's U.S. restaurants.

"Minute Maid is one of the largest juice brands in the world and we are delighted at the opportunity to offer our customers the very best," Dana Frydman, vice president of product marketing for Burger King Corp., said in a statement.

Burger King's decision was likely to be a boost to Coca-Cola's ongoing efforts to grow its business in the United States, especially in the non-carbonated soft drink market, the report said.