Limelight Shines on Low Calorie Drinks

As both Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke double their marketing spending for 2005, low calorie drinks are fast becoming mainstream and could soon surpass their classic, more calorific counterparts.

29/06/05 With health a high priority and consumer demand for low calorie drinks growing in the United States, aspartame-sweetened Diet Pepsi has stepped into the limelight to become the new flagship brand of PepsiCo. In fact, as both Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke double their marketing spending for 2005, low calorie drinks are fast becoming mainstream and could soon surpass their classic, more calorific counterparts.

In the USA, diet carbonated soft drinks have shown significant growth in volume.  Combined sales of Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi were up 491 million litres in 2004, while brand leaders Coke Classic and Pepsi-Cola saw sales drop by 495 million litres.  Among the top ten brands, classic soft drinks experienced a fall in volume of 1.9 per cent, while low calorie soft drinks celebrated a 5.7 per cent volume increase.

Similarly sales of low calorie carbonates in Western Europe increased by 1.4%, while sales of regular carbonates dropped 4% during a year of increased focus on calories in beverages. In Eastern Europe low calorie carbonates achieved a 15% increase; almost double the growth of regular carbonates.  The low calorie movement clearly means business.

In fact, according to the British Soft Drinks Association, the low calorie trend is so strong in the UK that the proportion of reduced or zero calorie soft drinks sold is now over 60%.  This share looks set to increase with a host of new and improved drinks taking the stage for summer 2005. 

The Coca-Cola Company's new 'Zero added sugar - Great taste' formulation 'Z', has now replaced the diet and light versions of Dr Pepper, Fanta, Lilt and Sprite.  Likewise, Britvic Soft Drinks has launched Tango Clear and 7-Up Free as new 'better-for-you' no sugar variants of their product range.  GlaxoSmithKline has released Really Light Ribena, a new improved version of Ribena Light with only 15 Calories.

The shift from dieting and weight loss to functionality and health are the core messages behind the new labelling of low calorie drinks.  By eliminating diet labelling, The Coca-Cola Company is changing tactics with its established products to target men as well as women with its marketing.  New products such as Tango Clear are focusing on 18-34 year old females with their sugar free choice, while the core Tango brand continues to target teenage males.

Aspartame is the key ingredient in many soft drinks worldwide, including Diet Coke, the leading low calorie drink in the US Soft drinks top ten and the number one soft drink in the UK.  Ajinomoto write that aspartame offers multiple benefits to those who wish to lose or maintain weight. The high intensity sweetener  tastes like sugar without the calories of sugar. It is naturally digested and metabolised by the body. It has a scientifically proven role in the treatment of obesity and overweight whereby the consumption of no calorie drinks, in which sugars are replaced or partly substituted by a sweetener, have been shown to have a real effect on the control of calorie intake.

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