PepsiCo Readies Innovation for Calorie-counting Cola Drinkers

Beverage giant PepsiCo Inc. is hinting that it has something sweet in store to lead "disruptive innovation" in colas as consumers seek to lower their caloric intake without sacrificing taste. 

"The industry has not had truly meaningful innovation in colas since the introduction of diet in [the] 1960s, " PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi told investors during a recent quarterly conference call. "Our research indicates that consumers still love bubbles. They love the cola taste, but would like to lower their caloric intake without the taste of artificial sweeteners," he said. 

More than a year ago, the company revealed it had been developing new natural sweeteners and flavoring aimed at producing calories with "no compromise on taste."

"We have some promising projects that are currently going through the FDA [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] review process that once commercialized, could potentially alter the trajectory of our cola business in a meaningful way," said Nooyi.

"And we want to make sure that as our disruptive technology all comes to the marketplace, we don’t do something in the short-term to really lose out on big value creating opportunities in the long-term. So stay tuned, we will be back to you early next year," he concluded. 

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