PepsiCo Makes Changes to Beverage Brands

Beverage Digest has a news piece about PepsiCo making some adjustments to their beverage porfolio (article can be found here).  BevWire won’t bother repeating the entire article but will highlight the main changes:

• Sierra Mist will be re-launched with new, healthier sweeteners
• An AMP juice, and a new energy shot to replace the discontinued AMP energy shot
• Sobe to be packaged in PET bottles

It seems that the natural sweetener trend has taken over PepsiCo as of late, with Aquafina Plus 10 launching and now Sierra Mist to be re-launched with a new formula.  AMP already discontinued their energy shot?  That’s not surprising news as the only success in this segment so far has been Living Essentials’ 5-Hour Energy.

The biggest change that consumers care about will be Sobe’s re-packaging in PET bottles.  Glass bottles have always conveyed a sense of healthiness along with being associated with classic and premium.  Certain beverages have seen at least a small decline in sales and market share after the switch to PET bottles (Fuze, Minute Maid juices, etc).   So why would Sobe want to switch to PET bottles?  For one, the packaging costs will be lower.  Another reason?  PET bottles are traditionally more durable and have less breakage than glass bottles so there will be cost savings there. If someone runs a taste test of the glass and PET bottles versions of Sobe to see what difference there is, please post a comment to inform the reading public here.