But don’t you do that very thing when you advertise and sell versions of your original products that have had empty calories from sugar replaced with non-nutritive sweeteners? Isnt that true for not just Diet Coke and drinks like it but Coke Zero and drinks like it as well? You’re drawing attention to the health impacts of not just these alternative sodas but also of the impacts of the sugar-laden versions.
What’s the appeal of CokeZero over Diet Coke? Well, both have zero calories but Coke Zero supposedly tastes more like the original Coke made with sugar. That, to me, says if the health impacts of regularly consuming empty sugar calories wasn’t a relevant factor in the decision making of at least a sizable chunk of soda drinkers, they would in fact be regular soda drinkers all.
My WAG is that ‘vitamins added beverage’ has already been saturated into the collective minds of U.S. consumers. It has already made its indelible mark in the form of “vitamin waters” and “water beverages”, etc. They cornered the market and there isnt enough for another major competitor like Coke or Pepsi (who’ve already made their mark with soft drinks) to get a foot-hold in a market where they would be seen like a fish-out-of-water to most consumers.
Yes. But there’s a difference between (a) taking action to reduce well-publicised unhealthy ingredients in your product, and (b) affirmatively introducing ingredients whose sole purpose is to make the product healthy (or healthier). The latter implies a claim which invites the kind of scrutiny that, all things considered, soda drink manufacturers are probably well-advised not to invite.
They’ve already adopted a different approach, which is to bifurcate the market - take action (as you point out) to reduce unhealthy ingredients in soda drinks, and offer different products which can more colorably be promoted as positively healthy.
Nm
Does adding ‘vitamins’ to your food product trigger any additional regulations?
The way I heard it explained was that the variety of beverages - Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Coke Caffiene Free, Cherry Coke, etc. - ties up retailer shelf space thus reducing the number of shelf spacings of a competitor’s products.
I think people who are looking for diet drinks are already aware they are consuming too much sugar, and aware they don’t have the lifestyle to make proper use of excess sugar - so selling diet drinks to them is not cannibalizing very much of your sugar drink market. Indeed, it most likely will increase the total sales.
Re: Vitamin-enhanced drinks not selling well:
OTOH, it has become very popular for many brands of shampoo to be vitamin-enhanced, and this apparently sells. My preferred brand boasts of FIVE vitamins. I take two tablespoons a day (in the morning and evening), and I get hairier every day!