Coca-Cola will see how consumers react to mid-calorie versions of its Sprite and Fanta sodas in a limited test.
The Atlanta-based beverage giant will release the drinks, which will have half the calories of their regular counterparts, in mid-June in Memphis, Detroit, Louisville and its hometown, the company confirmed after news about the strategy was reported Monday by industry publication Beverage Digest.
"It's an opportunity for us to test two different formulas in a very limited way to see what we can learn from it," Coke spokesman Scott Williamson said.
The drinks will be sweetened with blends of sugar, erythritol and the stevia-based Reb-A sweetener "Truvia," Beverage Digest reported. Erythritol and reb-A are the sweeteners used in Coke's Vitaminwater Zero and PepsiCo's SoBe Lifewater. Both are considered to be "natural sweeteners."
The news comes just months after Coke-rival Pepsi released Pepsi Next, a mid-calorie cola that has seen solid sales.
But success in the mid-calorie market -- characterized by drinks that taste like the real thing but have half the calories and no aftertaste -- has been elusive, at least in the cola segment. Both companies tried last decade -- Coca-Cola with C2 and Pepsi with Pepsi Edge -- but neither drink took off and they were pulled from the market.
There is evidence the mid-calorie offerings work outside of colas. Pepsi has seen success in G2, its mid-calorie sports drink by Gatorade. And Coke is reportedly considering a mid-calorie version of Sprite in France.
Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been working hard to find ways to expand use of natural sweeteners in their high-volume products such as carbonated drinks, Beverage Digest said.
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