TK Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040504160309990002 Coke, Pepsi to Face Off in Carb Battle By IRA DREYFUSS, AP CHICAGO (May 4) - Coke and Pepsi, trying to put more fizz into their soda sales, are about to launch new brands that taste like their flagship drinks but contain half the sugar, carbs and calories. Coke's C2 and Pepsi's Edge are to hit the market nationally this summer. In advance, the companies offered tastes to supermarket executives, restaurant owners and other potential retail distributors at the Food Marketing Institute's annual trade show in Chicago. The new sodas are targeted at people who don't like the calories in regular colas but are dissatisfied with diet versions. These midcalorie sodas may work, said Donna Albertson, who co-owns The Good House, a steak and seafood restaurant, with her husband, Buck, in Ragersville, Ohio. Sipping Pepsi Edge from a paper cup, she said the soda tasted as good as regular and did not have the aftertaste of diet. It could be a hit with people concerned about their weight, especially women, she said: ''It's going to be a gal thing. Gals are always watching their weight.'' The sodas are designed to appeal to ''people who would like less calories but don't want to compromise on taste,'' Coca-Cola spokesman Mart Martin said in a telephone interview from the company's headquarters in Atlanta. Martin dismissed the notion that Coca-Cola C2 might become another New Coke, a new taste the company introduced in 1985 as a replacement for its regular soda, only to see it rejected by consumers. Coke returned to its traditional drink less than three months later, marketing it as Classic Coke. ''This is a completely different proposition, an addition to the portfolio, not a replacement,'' Martin said. Pepsi estimates a potential buyers' pool of more than 60 million. It wants to keep them loyal to sodas so they don't drift into competing beverages such as teas and juices, said David DeCecco, a spokesman at Pepsi's headquarters in Purchase, N.Y. The new drinks contain the standard high-fructose corn syrup that sweetens regular soda but in smaller amounts. The corn syrup is supplemented with Splenda, a no-calorie, no-carbohydrate sweetener made from sugar. The result is a soda with fewer calories than regular but more than no-cal. For instance, Pepsi says a 12-ounce can of Edge has 20 grams each of sugar and carbohydrates, and 70 calories, compared with regular's 41 grams each of sugar and carbohydrates, and 150 calories. Although the products are new, the midcalorie soda category is not. Coke sells a midcalorie drink in Norway, Martin said. Pepsi had tried two other products in the United States, the latest in the mid-1990s, and had to withdraw both, DeCecco said. Technology opened the way for Pepsi to try again, DeCecco said. Splenda was not available for the earlier brands, and the sugar-based sweetener is a key ingredient toward creating a lower-calorie soda that tastes like regular, he said. Another big difference is a shift in consumer preferences, said John Sicher, editor and publisher of the trade publication Beverage Digest, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Americans are paying more attention to their diets, especially to counting carbs and calories. ''There's a whole different consumer awareness now that makes this a timely product,'' Sicher said. That new awareness shows up in sales figures, Sicher said. The growth in beverages has been in sports drinks and bottled water. Even in sodas, sugared soft drinks have been losing market share, slipping from 74.1 percent in 2002 to 72.6 percent in 2003, while diet drinks have been gaining, he said. The companies have a lot at stake in keeping consumers happy. Even though Coke and Pepsi make other products that could satisfy thirst, soft drinks are their mainstays, Sicher said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Y Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 I bet those are tasty...NOT!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 here is the trick. Instead of all this mess, just copy the Euro's......call it Coke Light.....make it an 8-Ounce bottle and sell it for $2.25 people will drink a lot less and end up spending the same amount for their habits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 I switched to diet soday when I was 19, I've never looked back. I've never understood why anyone would want to drink 150 calories worth of sugar unless they are skinny as a rail. I try to drink more water an less soda anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbooma Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 i just hate diet soda, there is no taste i do love how people supersize their meals and then get a diet coke at the end though :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinsfanjoe Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 Diet pop is an aquired taste. Once you get used to it, regular pop tastes horrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 Originally posted by skinsfanjoe Diet pop is an aquired taste. Once you get used to it, regular pop tastes horrible. Totally agree... Regular soda tastes like crap to me now. I hate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BD Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 If you hate diet soda, try Diet Coke with Lime. I am serious - it's like liquid crack. I hate Diet drinks, but you can't even taste the nutrasweet in that stuff. It's the shizzle. BD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 I've heard other people say that Diet Mt Dew or Diet Dr. Pepper are the two that are easiest for non diet drinkers to drink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WallyG3 Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 Diet Dr Pepper and Diet Root Beer I think are less "diety tasting". I agree with the acquired taste thing too. Once you get used to the Diet, regular sucks. Now if they would only sell Diet Dr Pepper at McDonalds... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK Posted May 11, 2004 Author Share Posted May 11, 2004 Originally posted by WallyG3 Now if they would only sell Diet Dr Pepper at McDonalds... Amen to that. I prefer it over diet coke anyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 Diet Coke with lime is excellent. I hated all the other flavor attempts, but this one is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMac Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 I drink nothing but diet pop. The closet one I have found that taste like the real stuff is Pepsi One. Diet Dr. Pepper is not too bad either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDoyler23 Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 Originally posted by jbooma i just hate diet soda, there is no taste i do love how people supersize their meals and then get a diet coke at the end though :laugh: "hehe...Can I get the double quarter pounder, super -ized fries, apple pie....and a diet coke." I like the idea of these '1/2' calorie sodas. When I get lunch @ subway or any place where you fill your own fountain soda, I like to fill it with 75% diet and 25% regular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJWatson3 Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 that always cracked me up as a waiter.... actual order: "i'll have the fettucini alfredo and a diet coke" what the ****ing point *****? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riggins44 Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 To have Atkins friendly drinks, I have Crown Royal or Jim Beam and Diet Coke. Taste fine to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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