[sonnyblarney]

" Why is the market so disfunctional that a single company has effectively swallowed all competition?"

In most places there just isn't any competition really. It's a brand war.

Coke taught the locals to love Coke. And so they do.

It's more of a mind share / branding monopoly - although there are some issues with distribution as well.

[smt88]

It's not a brand war in a lot of places. Coke is notorious for getting favorable deals (e.g. water rights) from local governments that give them effective monopolies.

[ucaetano]

Every beverage company does the same (see Nestle).