After eight years, Coca-Cola has decided to introduce a new product on the market – Coke Life. This product can be found in the markets around Europe. Coke Life has significantly lower amount of calories compared to regular Coke and it uses sweeteners obtained from natural sources. Eight years ago Coca-Cola launched another low-calorie (no calorie) soft drink – Coca-Cola Zero.
According to the company’s announcement, the new product is more natural and it contains lower levels of calories and sugar compared to traditional Coke.
Coke Life contains three times less sugar and the sweet taste comes from the perfect mixture of sugar and stevia leaf extract. Stevia leaf comes from the exotic stevia plant, a type of plant that has its origins in Paraguayan jungles. For example, a 500 ml bottle of regular Coca-Cola contains 211 calories while a 500 ml bottle of Coca-Cola Life contains 135 calories.
James Quincey of Coca-Cola Europe says that with this new product Coca-Cola is trying to enrich their offer and provide their customers a chance to try a healthier product with fewer calories. He also said that Coca-Cola is a company that is following current trends and this is why they have decided to create a new product that contains low calorie soft drink that contains natural sweeteners but keeps the good taste.
With the help of Coca-Cola life, Coca-Cola is trying to keep their share on the market which is at risk in the past few years mostly because of the latest dieting trends. Many people avoid soft drinks that contain high levels of sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Jon Woods, the general manager of Coca-Cola Great Britain and Ireland, says that they have done many researches and decided to go with stevia leaf extract as the perfect substitution for the artificial sweeteners used in standard Coca-Cola. In addition, Jon Woods said that with this new product they hope to reach their customers between the ages of 35 and 55, because this is the group of customers that has started to avoid regular Coke in the past years.
The question is – will this be the product that will boost Coca-Cola sales that were showing a downward trend? The growing concerns about obesity all over the world are definitely affecting the way food and drink manufacturers think. Many countries are adopting new laws that set new standards when it comes to production of food and drinks. Coca-Cola is one of the companies that have promised to reduce the average calories per liter in all sparkling drinks by 5% by the end of this year.
The future of Coke Life is not clear because this product received different perception in the public. While some organizations like the National Obesity Forum supports Coca-Cola in its efforts to create healthier soft drink, the Children’s Food Campaign is not very excited about the new product because as they say even the new Coke Life contains way more sugar (four teaspoons per 330 ml can) than recommended. This organization points out that this is equal to ¼ of the recommended intake of sugar in children.
What would Life’s future look like? This is certainly a question that no one can answer. We will have to see how customers, especially older customers, will react to this new product.
It is good to mention that Pepsi launched a similar product few years ago called Pepsi Raw – a soft drink that contained Kola nuts and apple extract. Pepsi Raw was canceled after two years. Of course, Coca-Cola hopes that thanks to their advertising campaign they will be able to make a new drink that will last long.
