I think it's obvious that a corporation the size of Pepsi could replicate the taste of coke if they wanted to. But why would they - their customers buy pepsi because they want pepsi, not because they are looking for cheaper coke - pepsi is not even cheaper, it's just a different product. Just like 7up tastes different to Sprite.
More interesting, to me, is why the corporations that produce house-brand colas don't do this. While not exactly Pepsico, these producers have plenty of financial resources, plus the motivation to get their product as close to Coca-Cola and Pepsi as possible.
TBF, I think some of them do - Aldi's Cola is like....95% there. I wonder if that last 5% is a concious choice, or an actual technical challenge in replicating the exact taste.
