PepsiCo is targeting environmentally and health conscious shoppers with a new range of pods that can be used to create flavoured ‘superfood’ drinks without the need for single-use plastic bottles.
Each drink is made by attaching a pod to the top of a special reusable Drinkfinity bottle, which consumers fill with cold water. When pressed, the pod expels its dry and liquid ingredients – which include on-trend ingredients such as acai, spirulina and dried spinach.
A pack of four pods costs £6.50, while the bottle is £20. Starter packs of bottle and 16 pods start at £35. For each purchase over £30, the brand donates £1 to Water.org, the non-profit organisation that provides safe water and sanitation.
PepsiCo is selling Drinkfinity using a direct-to-consumer model, with pods and bottles available to buy direct through the brand’s website. Plans for high street retail would be announced at a future date, said PepsiCo.
At present, there is a choice of six low-calorie variants for UK consumers, all of which contain no artificial flavours and use sweeteners from natural sources only: Mandarin Orange Charge, Blackberry Açaí Charge, Pineapple Coconut Water Renew, Lemon Spirulina Flow, Mango Oats Flow, and White Peach Chill.
The aim was to offer “a beverage that embodies versatility, choice and personalisation in an era where attitudes towards wellness are rapidly evolving” said Drinkfinity global lead Hernan Marina.
Drinkfinity packaging required “less resources to produce than a ready-to-drink beverage”, the brand added, and its pods used “much less plastic than many traditional beverage brands”.
However, the plastic pods cannot be put into most normal household recycling but can be returned to a special recycling facility run by TerraCycle. Freepost returns envelopes are supplied with each Drinkfinity purchase.
With such recycling schemes typically having very low rates of return, Drinkfinity said it was “investing in technologies to allow us to manufacture pods that are even easier to recycle and made from 100% post-consumer recycled PET plastic“.
The Miami-based brand is PepsiCo-owned but “always tried to act as an independent company” it said. It also launched in the US this month following a successful four years in Brazil’s online marketplace.
The UK launch will be supported on 7 March by a “lifestyle lab” at Huckletree Shoreditch, featuring “trend workshops on the benefits of fluid living”.
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