Green Coke is so good it could replace Red Coke entirely

A few weeks ago I called on the industry to ‘dial down the sugar’: reducing not only sugar levels but the overall sweetness of drinks, cereals, yoghurts etc. And with the soft drinks industry under intense pressure from a remorseless anti-sugar lobby - not to mention Tesco - it seems Coca-Cola is on it.

“Green Coke is so good, I would be tempted to change the formula of Coca-Cola itself”

Adam Leyland, Editor

This week it launched Coca-Cola Life, a lower calorie version containing 89 calories (versus the 139 calories in a 330ml can of red Coke.

Some may baulk at the green logo. Some won’t like the name (what’s the alternative to Coca-Cola Life? Coca-Cola Death?) But this is far and away the best piece of stevia-based innovation I’ve tasted. In a blind taste test at The Grocer this week, it wasn’t just that all seven preferred the taste of Coca-Cola Life. It was the fact that all seven were convinced it was Red Coke.

The significance of this NPD is huge. If I were Coca-Cola I would launch a ‘Green Coke Challenge’-style ad campaign (with nicely subversive Pepsi Challenge undertones for added piquancy). In fact, I would go the whole hog: this NPD is so good I would be tempted to change the formula of Coca-Cola itself.