Are goods produced by American companies in foreign countries the same as their American counterparts?

Question

When I lived abroad I was able to buy a small bottle of Coca-Cola for the equivalent of $0.35 but it didn't quite taste like Coca-Cola back home. Neither did the M & Ms I bought or some of the other products produced by American companies abroad. I also noticed that there was less packaging for other products like Orbit gum or Bounty candy bars. Do they cut costs by offering a modified product in certain foreign markets? Seems to me that they may do so to stay competitive there since many people wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise.

Answer 1

I believe you've answered your own question - "Do they cut costs by offering a modified product in certain foreign markets? Seems to me that they may do so to stay competitive there since many people wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise." I think it's partially to stay competative but mostly because it's cheaper to manufacture in most forgein countries. There are less gov't regulations to adhere to for one. Also available ingrediants may be slightly different or of an inferior quality.

Answer 2

Probably. Companies are cheap, that's why they manufacture their goods overseas in the first place. It wouldn't surpirse me if they cheaped out on ingredients for foreign countries. If they crapped out the candy in the North American market then everyone would just buy some other company's candy that still tasted good. There may be less competition, or just lower taste standards in other places.

Answer 3

, They do not always have a final say in packaging or the recipes they use many countries have different laws on allowed artificial flavours too , this is why they taste different , and they are made for the locals not just for Americans abroad .