After launching in South America last year, Coca-Cola Life, which has 60 percent less calories than Coca-Cola, could be introduced to the Australian market.
Sweetened with stevia as well as sugar, the beverage is the result of five years of research by The Coca-Cola Company. According to the AFR, there’s speculation that Coca-Cola Life could be introduced to Australia to help the beverage giant compete with other manufacturers of low calorie soft drinks, including Schweppes’ Pepsi Next.
Kristene Reynolds, spokesperson for Coca-Cola South Pacific, said the company will be evaluating the performance of Coca-Cola Life in South America over the next few months before deciding whether to bring it to Australia.
“We don’t have a definite time frame but it’s part of our commitment to look at how we introduce stevia into our products,” she said.
According to AFR, Coca-Cola has incorporated stevia, a plant-based sweetner, into 45 products including low calorie Sprite, Vitaminwater Zero and Pump flavoured water, but previous to the launch of Coca-Cola Life, was reluctant to introduce the sweetner into its Coca-Cola formulation for fear that it will alter the taste and upset loyal customers.
Coca-Cola Life features a green label, and Coca-Cola says the bottle is made from 30 percent plant material and is fully recyclable.
The launch of low calorie soft drinks is in respond to consumers' growing awareness of the health implications of consuming large amounts of sugar, with a recent Roy Morgan report indicating that soft drink consumption among Australians (over an average seven day period) has declined from 56 to 49 percent over the past five years.