在得克萨斯州普拉诺市，百胜餐饮集团会议室内，肯德基高管和加盟商连续两天品尝了两大汽水巨头——可口可乐和百事公司——的样品。
Inside a Yum Brands meeting room across two days in Plano, Texas, KFC executives and franchisees tasted samples from the biggest rivals in soda—Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.
目标：决定哪家公司将为美国超过3000家餐厅的饮料喷泉供应饮料。知情人士称，百事公司与这家炸鸡连锁店的10年合同即将到期，百事此前数十年来一直拥有该业务。
The goal: to choose which company would fill beverage fountains at more than 3,000 U.S. restaurants. While Pepsi had the business for decades, its 10-year contract with the chicken chain was ending soon, people familiar with the agreement said.
各方利益攸关。肯德基美国销售额下滑，许多餐饮业人士认为饮料是激发消费者兴趣、创造更强利润的一种方式。
The stakes for all parties were high. KFC’s U.S. sales have sagged and many in the restaurant industry see beverages as a way to excite consumers and generate stronger profits.
可口可乐有望从竞争对手手中夺下一份大合同，削减百事在快餐领域的覆盖面。据行业出版物《饮料消化》报道，可口可乐约占美国碳酸软饮喷泉销量的70%。肯德基的鸡肉竞争对手，包括快速增长的品牌翠丰和百胜鸡，都供应可口可乐。
Coke could steal a big contract from its rival, cutting Pepsi’s reach in fast food. Coke represents around 70% of U.S. carbonated soft-drink fountain sales by volume, according to industry publication Beverage Digest. KFC’s chicken competitors, including fast-growing brands Wingstop and Popeyes, serve Coke.
对百事公司而言，其饮料业务一直低迷。失去肯德基业务将打击其核心：这家快餐连锁店曾由百事拥有。
For Pepsi, its beverage business has been slumping. A loss of KFC business would hit close to home: The fast-food chain was once owned by Pepsi.
两大汽水巨头此前也曾在此处。当肯德基上一份为期10年的美国饮料供应协议即将到期时，百胜曾考虑可口可乐作为百事的替代供应商投标，知情人士称。
The two soda giants had been here before. When KFC’s last 10-year U.S. beverage supply deal was about to end, Yum considered bids from Coke as an alternative vendor to Pepsi, the people said.
当时，百事在谈判开始前被视为保留业务的大热门，知情人士称。击败可口可乐，使百事饮料留在了全球大多数肯德基餐厅。2019年，肯德基还从百事获得了自己的特色饮品——山露甜闪电，帮助培养了新客户。
Back then, Pepsi was heavily favored to keep the business going into the negotiations, the people said. Beating Coke kept Pepsi’s beverages in most KFC restaurants worldwide. KFC also got its own signature drink from Pepsi—Mountain Dew Sweet Lightning—in 2019, helping to cultivate newer customers.
今年早些时候，肯德基告诉一群加盟商，他们将举行一场新的竞争。
Earlier this year, KFC told a group of franchisees that they would hold a new competition.
六月，百事与可口可乐的再次较量举行，双方代表在百胜餐饮集团总部连续两天进行了推介。
A Pepsi-Coke rematch took place in June, with representatives from both companies making pitches over two days at Yum’s headquarters.
饮料公司各自有各自的一天，大约两个小时来阐述他们关于KFC如何更好地提升饮料销售的方案，并附上一些财务条款。他们各自提供了创新饮料的样品供加盟商品尝。
The beverage companies each had its own day up to bat, with roughly two hours to present their proposal on how KFC could better increase drinks sales, along with some financial terms. They each poured samples of innovative beverages for franchisees to sip.
KFC的高管和加盟商随后需要做出决定。一位熟悉谈判的人士表示，两家公司的出价在数字方面都很有吸引力。该人士表示，可口可乐因其对未来销售增长的承诺而脱颖而出。
KFC executives and franchisees then had a decision to make. Both companies’ bids were attractive when it came to the numbers, a person familiar with the talks said. Coke stood out for its promises for future sales growth, the person said.
另一位人士表示，百事的演示包括其与KFC的历史合作，以及提升手工饮料、在冰茶和柠檬水方面进行创新的计划。
Pepsi’s presentation included its legacy work with KFC, as well as plans to boost crafted beverages and innovating with ice tea and lemonade, another person said.
最终，KFC告诉两家公司，可口可乐赢得了合同。“这是一步大胆的举措，”得克萨斯州的餐厅业主塔布苏姆·穆姆塔兹说，她拥有包括大约100家KFC在内的餐厅，并支持转向可口可乐。
Eventually KFC told both companies that Coke had won the contract. “It’s a bold step,” said Tabbassum Mumtaz, a Texas-based owner of restaurants—including around 100 KFCs—who supports the move toward Coke.
这是可口可乐在打造高效运作的餐饮服务业务方面发展的成果，也是负责可口可乐在北美餐饮服务关系的达格玛·博格斯的又一项荣誉。博格斯及其团队今年早些时候帮助可口可乐成为万豪国际的全球饮料合作伙伴，万豪国际是全球最大的酒店连锁之一。接下来，可口可乐和KFC开始在物流方面合作。事情很复杂。
It was the culmination of Coke’s development of a well-oiled food-service operation and a new feather in the cap of Dagmar Boggs, who oversees Coke’s food service relationships across North America. Boggs and her team helped Coke earlier this year become the global beverage partner for Marriott, one of the world’s largest hotel chains. Next, Coke and KFC started working on logistics. The matters were complex.
百事拥有KFC厨房和餐厅中数千台饮料机，这些设备需要被拆除并更换为可口可乐的设备。服务管线也需要进行更改。
Pepsi owns the thousands of fountains featured in KFC’s kitchens and dining rooms, and they would need to be removed and replaced with Coke’s equipment. Service lines would need to be changed.
最终，在《华尔街日报》询问该交易后，宣布被提前。公司于周四下午公开了这一变动。
In the end, the announcement was accelerated after The Wall Street Journal asked the companies about the deal. The companies went public with the change Thursday afternoon.
在一条内部消息中，KFC美国总统凯瑟琳·谭-吉勒斯皮表示，饮料是这个有着数十年历史的连锁品牌在使菜单更现代化、提升加盟商业务方面的关键部分。
In an internal message, KFC U.S. President Catherine Tan-Gillespie said that beverages are a critical part of the decades-old chain’s work to make its menu more contemporary and boost franchisees’ businesses.
“与可口可乐的新合作伙伴关系为我们提供了创新平台，以满足不断变化的口味需求，并让顾客有更多理由选择我们，”Tan-Gillespie表示。
“A new beverage offering, with a new partner in Coca-Cola, gives us a platform to innovate, meet changing tastes and give customers more reasons to choose us,” Tan-Gillespie said.
未来几个月对肯德基至关重要。全国各地的加盟商预计将在未来几周了解更多关于转向可口可乐的情况，获取糖浆成本的详细信息以及可口可乐将提供的回扣类型。设备更换计划于1月开始，持续至4月。
The next few months are critical for KFC. Franchisees across the country expect to learn more about the switch-over to Coke in coming weeks, getting details on the cost of syrup and what kind of rebates Coke would provide. Equipment changes are scheduled to begin in January and last through April.
百事可乐曾与前百胜餐饮集团董事和高管有关联，如今正试图赢得新的餐厅客户，以近年成功拿下赛百味和邓肯的业绩为基础。知情人士透露，百事也在评估其他合作伙伴关系。
Pepsi, which had ties to prior Yum Brands directors and executives, now is trying to win new restaurant customers, building on successes landing Subway and Dunkin’ in recent years. Pepsi is evaluating other partnerships as well, according to people familiar with the matter.
失去百事可乐可能意味着肯德基顾客将错失一款深受喜爱的饮品——山露甜闪电。这种桃子和蜂蜜口味的山露变体仅在肯德基销售。
Losing Pepsi could mean KFC consumers missing out on a beloved offering—Mountain Dew Sweet Lightning. The peach and honey-flavored Mountain Dew variant is only sold at KFC.
纽约州乌蒂卡的33岁居民Colin VanCourt表示，他在周四晚上赶到肯德基，想买自己喜欢的饮料，但不确定这种黄色饮料的未来。他会将甜闪电与五块鸡柳搭配食用，形容这是甜与咸味的良好组合。
Colin VanCourt, 33, of Utica, N.Y., said he rushed to KFC on Thursday night to grab his favorite drink, unsure of the yellow-hued beverage’s future. He pairs Sweet Lightning with a five-piece order of chicken tenders, describing it as a good mix of sweet and savory flavors.
“我确实喜欢肯德基的食物，但如果没有甜闪电，我可能会大幅减少去肯德基的次数，”他说。百事对顾客的回应是：请继续关注。
“I do like KFC’s food but I would probably go there a lot less if not for Sweet Lightning,” he said. Pepsi’s answer to customers: Stay tuned.
请将稿件发送至Heather Haddon的heather.haddon@wsj.com和Laura Cooper的laura.cooper@wsj.com。
Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com and Laura Cooper at laura.cooper@wsj.com