Coca-Cola To Test Mid-Calorie Sprite, Fanta

NEW YORK — The Coca-Cola Co. is giving mid-calorie sodas another try, this time with Sprite and Fanta.

The Atlanta-based company says it will test a "Sprite Select" and "Fanta Select" this summer that will have about half the calories of regular. The drinks will be made with a blend of sugar and other sweeteners, including Truvia and erythritol. The tests will take place in a limited number of stores in Atlanta, Detroit, Louisville, Ky. and Memphis, Tenn.

Scott Williamson, a spokesman for Coca-Cola, noted that there are no plans for a national rollout yet.

The new formulas will both have 70 calories per a 12-ounce can. A can of regular Sprite by contrast has 140 calories and a can of regular Fanta has 160 calories.

PepsiCo Inc. earlier this year also launched its Pepsi Next, which has about half the calories of regular. But Coca-Cola's new drinks are different because they use what are considered natural sweeteners, said John Sicher, publisher of Beverage Digest, which first reported on the tests.

Truvia is made from a plant and erythritol is a sugar alcohol. Pepsi Next, by contrast, uses a mix of high fructose corn syrup and three artificial sweeteners that were used in past diet sodas.

"This is a different kind of product – it's a mid-calorie drink made with all-natural sweeteners," Sicher said.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have tried mid-calorie drinks in the past. In 2001, Coke rolled out "C2" and Pepsi in 2004 introduced its "Pepsi Edge." Both were taken off the market because of poor sales.

It will likely take at least a year before Coca-Cola and PepsiCo can gauge whether their new drinks will have staying power, Sicher said. That is particularly true for products that are exploring a new category.

"It's all going to depend on taste," Sicher said.

Williamson said the tests of the new mid-calorie drinks are simply part of the company's ongoing development efforts.

"We're always looking at testing different formulations to see what, if any, appeal they might have," he said.

Comments

[gluten]

09:35 PM on 05/23/2012

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[Joan Bogorae]

07:18 PM on 05/15/2012

why ??????????

[russroute66]

04:38 PM on 05/15/2012

Just put less sugar without the other sweeteners.

[brokenleoheart]

03:59 PM on 05/15/2012

gotta say, i love fanta

[jgamble28]

03:50 PM on 05/15/2012

All pop is bad for you. I quit about 6 months ago after reading how bad they are. I now drink green tea and water.

[blodisnut]

12:54 PM on 05/15/2012

Its probably going to suck....

Only the real thing tastes good...

Zero is nasty, diet is nastier, so this is going to be half nasty....

Just give me my dose of sprite, and call it a day.....

[J0E1]

12:41 PM on 05/15/2012

I understand they are running out of ideas, but mid-calorie sodas aren't going to accomplish anything.  People that enjoy regular soda want regular.  People who enjoy diet do not want the extra calories or the sweet taste of a mid-calorie soda.  I just don't understand the point.

[Sue Bryant]

10:58 AM on 05/15/2012

Fake sugar tastes gross, why don't they try making a version that simply doesn't have as much sugar? Even half the sugar would be sweet enough...poof there go about half the calories.

[jmoore1248]

10:56 AM on 05/15/2012

What they need to do is an all Stevia soda with no sugar alcohol which can be bad for diabetics.

[val610]

12:29 PM on 05/15/2012

I agree with the Stevia. Wish they would taste test here in NYC. Larger population.

[aphextwin07]

10:28 AM on 05/15/2012

get rid of the HFCS already... sheesh.

[allianceae]

09:47 AM on 05/15/2012

If Publix can sell me a 2 liter bottle of soda for 79 cents ... why is Coke and Pepsi nearly twice as much? The truth of the matter is that the difference in taste is not wortth the doubling in price. But the real truth is ... I drink too dang much sod and it is time for me to give it up ... 'nuf said.

[natal plum]

11:24 AM on 05/15/2012

Store brand/generic brand thing.

[allianceae]

11:33 AM on 05/15/2012

Really!!! Gee, I wud-a-neva-thunk-of-gat.

[Al Schrader]

09:39 AM on 05/15/2012

I invented Half Coke many years ago. And here is the insider info on bottled water. You see, just water itself that doesn't contain any dissolved minerals or salts (de-ionized water) tastes terrible.
In order for drinking water to taste good, it needs traces of sodium, calcium, and minerals.
These occur naturally in all well waters that there are. What matters is what natural combination of these is present that gives water a good taste. On my estate here in Central Florida, I was drilling a well for use to irrigate my citrus trees. I put a test pitcher pump onto the pump and pumped it, then cupped some of the water in my hand and tasted it. Unbelievable. I discovered an underground spring of the best tasting water on earth. I capped the well. It is worth many billions of dollars.....Alfred-

[French Toast]

02:06 PM on 05/15/2012

From Al's comments history:

"“I invented a new self powered cell phone."
"I used to own part of the Chase Manhattan Bank which was aquired by JP Morgan and is the "Chase" part of the name. "
"“I've prepared food for Hillary Clinton, presidential candidates, CEOs, etc."
"“Plutonium is obsolete. What's new is something called Photon Exchange Technology.
How do I know ? I own it...."
"“I invented a new foil barcode that is applied to a parcel or letter. "
“So far, I'm the only living painter in history that can paint like anybody including Leonardo Da Vinci.
"The Large Hadron Collider was built to study a particle I discovered."
“I actually found what caused them [dinosaurs] to go extinct. I discovered this while doing petroleum geology.”

I thoroughly recommend combing through his comments history.

[Al Schrader]

04:22 PM on 05/15/2012

And French Toast invented what ?

[ssoodak]

07:01 AM on 05/15/2012

PLEASE DEAR G-D, LET THIS TASTE BETTER THAN DR. PEPPER 10 & PEPSI NEXT! The artificial sweetners in those drinks make it taste like diet soda and I can't stand the chemical taste.

Hopefully the Truvia & erythritol will blend better with natural sugar (as opposed to HFCS) or better yet coke, try AGAVE combination as it is great sugar subsitute (the only one I can tolerate without chemical aftertaste).

[bill87]

08:16 AM on 05/15/2012

Dr Pepper 10 is good. Pepsi Next not worth it

[allianceae]

09:49 AM on 05/15/2012

I think Pepsi Next is pretty good.

[ssoodak]

10:21 AM on 05/15/2012

other than Mug Root Beer, I have not tasted a Pepsi product that I actually like

[allianceae]

11:04 AM on 05/15/2012

I was a Coke man all my life. But in my later years I have developed a taste for Pepsi. I still prefer Coke from the fountain, but I like Pepsi from the bottle.

[muscle guy]

06:33 AM on 05/15/2012

how about that drink called water??

[BloodGlutton]

09:20 AM on 05/15/2012

But they can't SELL water! Oh wait... I guess they can...

[RobParker]

11:10 PM on 05/15/2012

sorry, they're gonna need that to make the soda pop

[Anaxamenes]

05:38 AM on 05/15/2012

What about a soda that has real sugar, but isn't as sweet as regular soda. Hansen's had some rather expensive, but very good sodas in 10 ounce cans that simply had less sugar. They weren't as sweet, but much more refreshing than a soda and no artificial colors.

A 10 ounce "redbull" size can is much closer to a proper serving of soda, and less sugar means you can actually hit somewhere below 80 calories a can which would be a lot better.