According to statistics compiled by Beverages Digest we are amidst a thirty year low in American soft drink consumption with sales of diet soda in particular being hit hard as more scientific information becomes available about the harm artificial sweeteners do to the human body. This decline has affected even the most noted name in Soft Drinks; the Coca-Cola company which is taking the drastic action taking one of their signature lines of drinks off the market. Coke Zero debuted in 2005 and has emerged as one of the top ten most sold sodas in the United States and despite the industry wide slump, saw sales increase in 2016 rather than nosedive. However despite that positive news a new star on the block has insured that Coke Zero will disappear from marketplace shelves very shortly, it’s name? Coca-Cola Zero Sugar which has sold fantastically in 25 test markets around the world outside of the United States.
What is the difference besides the extra word? The new soda will have more red in its packaging which is the color most consumers associate with Coca-Cola as a company, although perhaps in homage to the drink it is replacing it will retain mostly black packaging. The new beverage is also said to taste more like the original Coca-Cola although whether this means they changed the sweetener used from aspartame to something else is probably not going to be announced publicly (although it will be required to be on the label). Perhaps in response to the news Coca-Cola stocks rose on Wednesday to $ 45.74, although if the new drink is a success they could stand to grow even larger. On the flip-side if this is anything like the New Coke flop in the 1980s the Atlanta giant may soon find itself making an about face with the faces of executives as red as the cans of their signature soda.
