As sodas recede, Pepsi pushes ‘Next’ generation

NEW YORK – Pepsi is hoping to win back soda drinkers with a compromise.

Some people don’t like the calories in regular soda but loathe the taste of zero-calorie diet drinks. So the nation’s No. 2 cola company is rolling out “Pepsi Next,” a cola that has 60 calories per can, about half the calories of regular Pepsi.

The cola, which is slated to hit store shelves nationally by the end of March, is Pepsi’s biggest product launch in years. The drink comes as people increasingly move away from sugary drinks to water and other lower-calorie beverages because of health concerns. It’s also an attempt by Pepsi to revive the cola wars against Coke and others.

Coming up with a successful “mid-calorie soda” has been challenging for beverage makers. In 2001, Coke unveiled “C2” and Pepsi in 2004 introduced its “Pepsi Edge,” both of which had about half the calories of regular soda. Both products were taken off the market by 2006 because of poor sales.

Pepsi says its latest stab at an in-between soda uses a different formula to more closely imitate the taste of regular soda. Pepsi Next is made with a mix of three artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup.

Pepsi Next also follows the company’s lower-calorie variations of its other drinks. Gatorade, a unit of Pepsi, has “G2,” which at 20 calories has a little less than half the calories of the original version. And the company’s Tropicana unit introduced “Trop50,” which contains half of the 110 calories in an 8-ounce glass of orange juice.

But orange juice and sports drinks have nutritional benefits that a drink maker can market. A mid-calorie soda is a tougher sell because it provides only “empty” calories. Health-conscious drinkers usually opt for diet soda or quit soda altogether.

Sales in the $74 billon soft drink industry have been fizzling out, with volume falling steadily since 2005, according to Beverage Digest, which tracks the industry. Meanwhile, healthier drinks are growing more popular, with bottled water accounting for 11 percent of all beverages consumed in 2010, up from 2 percent in 2000. Consumption of sports drinks rose to 2.3 percent from 1.2 percent.

Pepsi hopes Pepsi Next will help it gain back the market share it’s lost in recent years. The company’s namesake drink had its share in the carbonated soft drink market fall to 9.5 percent in 2010, from 13.6 percent a decade earlier, while Diet Pepsi’s share remained steady at 5.3 percent.

Coke is still the top-selling brand, with 17 percent market share. Diet Coke follows with 9.9 percent.