In an attempt to combat sluggish sales and declining growth, PepsiCo, the maker of Gatorade, announced that it will roll out a low-cal version of the drink later this year, aimed at “athletes who are not breaking a sweat.” (Also: people who are sitting on the couch, people who are too lazy to mix one part water with one part Gatorade, and so on and so forth). According to a recent survey of 2,500 adults by Goldman Sachs, 43% of those who dialed down their Gatorade consumption did so because of a calorie-count concern, which seems to suggest that people will go for this Not Water, Not Gatorade but Somewhere in Between hogwash. A lower-calorie version of Coca-Cola’s Powerade, released several years ago and called (The) Powerade Option (to swill sewer water) did not sell well. PepsiCo’s chairman and chief executive, Indra K. Nooyi rebuffed comparisons and said she’s confident that the “Gatorade name” will be enough to do the trick.
Full-fat Powerade, Gator’s main competitor, enjoyed double-digit volume growth in this year’s second quarter, and helped Coca-Cola to beat profit expectations. PepsiCo’s Q2 rose 13% but saw its stock fall due to declines for Gatorade.
PepsiCo closed at $66.26 yesterday, down 33 cents.
For Less-Active Athletes, a Low-Calorie Gatorade [NYT]