Who: Coca-Cola European Partners
What: Sprite Lemon Lime & Cucumber
Where: Carbonated soft drinks
How much: £2.10/two litres
Why: CCEP unveiled this sugar-free Sprite variant in February as part of a strategy to broaden its portfolio of drinks unaffected by April’s sugar tax. While not a seltzer in the manner of Ugly and La Vie (because it contains artificial sweeteners), Lemon Lime & Cucumber was created to “help retailers tap consumer demand for light-flavoured carbonates that are experiencing strong market growth”. It comes in Sprite’s new look two-litre bottle, which takes the dimples from other packs amid new visual cues designed to play up the drink’s refreshment credentials.
Consumer verdict: The price point was the drink’s only shortcoming, according to our testers, who said it was “too expensive” compared with other zero-calorie carbonates. The product’s most positive aspect was its refreshment: shoppers called it “thirst quenching”, “crisp and clean” and “palate cleansing”. They were also keen on the “very fresh smell of cucumber” and “moreish” flavour, though some would have preferred sugar to acesulfame k and aspartame. The final score was five points above the category norm.
Pre-trial purchase: 50%
Post-trial purchase: 61%
Better than what’s out there: 65%
New and different: 83%
Overall score: 42/50
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