Coke, Pepsi to change their product recipe - what if people don't like it?
We are guessing its a good news, Beverage giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are on the move to change the recipes of their most selling drinks in order to include stevia, a plant-based natural sweetener.
Atlanta-headquartered Coca-Cola may also launch a variant of the country's largest-selling mango drink Maaza with 30 - 50 per cent less sugar, said sources.
Pointing to public concern over high sugar content in fizzy drinks, PepsiCo, too, is test-marketing a novel low-calorie option of its lemony drink 7UP, in the same place Coke is doing the same with Fanta, the new variant of which includes stevia and around 5 per cent orange juice.
"As articulated by our global CEO, Coca-Cola has undertaken a three-pronged strategy to give consu mers wider choice of low no calorie products, which include reduced serving size, reformulation and innovation," said a Coca-Cola India spokesperson. "This is work in progress and we intend to share a comprehensive plan by the end of 2017."
Reformulation of food and beverages is tricky business as Coca-Cola found out the hard way. In 1985, it launched a `new' reformulated version of Coke only to face consumer backlash over taste. Three months later, it withdrew the product.
"We have been growing in India in double-digits,' said Ajay Chandran, senior director, South Asia at PureCircle, a B2B stevia supplier. "Globally, around 14,000 products have been launched with stevia and many companies in India are experimenting with it currently."
-PTC News
