Stevia-sweetened Coca-Cola Life to enter new markets this year - but Coke won't say which ones

24-Feb-2014 - Last updated on 24-Feb-2014 at 18:45 GMT

Muhtar Kent: 'Coca-Cola Life has shown great promise in recruiting new and lapsed consumers into the sparkling category'

Coca-Cola Life - a stevia-sweetened cola with 50% less sugar than regular Coke - will be introduced into other markets this year following a successful debut in Argentina and Chile.

Speaking at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference last week, Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent said: “Coca-Cola Life, our low-calorie, all naturally sweetened, Coca-Cola was introduced in the year past in Chile and Argentina in the South Latin cone.

“We’re excited about the further potential of Coca-Cola Life as it has shown great promise in recruiting new and lapsed consumers into the sparkling category, as well as generating incremental volume, profitable incremental volume for our system.

“This year… we’re planning to expand Coca-Cola Life into other markets.”

Asked which markets Coca-Cola Life would be introduced to next, a spokesman told FoodNavigator-USA: "We haven’t made any other statements on potential new markets at this point."

Coca-Cola Life contains a combination of sugar and stevia (the latter is supplied by Cargill). It contains 64 calories per 12oz serving, and 50% less sugar than standard full-sugar Coke. Cargill’s Truvia branding also appears on pack.

PepsiCo, meanwhile, recently confirmed that new non-cola products sweetened with natural sweeteners and sugar will hit the US market this year, while cola products will be tested in other markets.

Speaking on the firm’s Q4 earnings call earlier this month, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi said: “We have several great tasting cola product variations using zero calorie natural sweeteners blended with sugar that we’re testing in various markets in the world. And so far, these test results are promising.”