Sublime mysteries of the universe #173

What is the deal with the price of soda? Why does it fluctuate so much?

My four go-to sodas, I always have them stocked up in my fridge, are Coke (or Pepsi), 7-Up (or Sprite), Ginger Ale, and Seltzer (Seagram's, Schweppes, or Canada Dry).

I get the 2-liter bottles of each. But one week a particular brand in the supermarket will sell for 99 cents – although sometimes you can get them for 89 cents - oh those are good weeks! Then the next week it's $1.49.

How can they jump up and down in price so dramatically so often? If milk suddenly had a 50 cent increase one week, people would be marching in the streets.

It doesn't matter if it's Key Food or C-Town or Food Emporium, the prices are always changing like crazy.

At least you never really have to pay more than 99 cents, because one of them is always on sale, but there's obviously a price collusion thing going on - one week it's the Coke brands on sale, the next week it's Pepsi. It never seems to happen in the same week. My cynical mind imagines shady shenanigans going on in these evil soda cartels, which are apparently just as devious as the oil bastards.

(And don't even get me started on the price of cans of soda. I used to work in an office where there was a soda machine which sold 12-ounce cans for 85 cents - almost as much as a 2-liter bottle. Bastards).