After launching Coca-Cola No Sugar in Australia, the soft drinks giant has decided to phase out Coke Zero completely starting on August 1.
“We said that we would let people decide and we are pleased to say the results are in – Australians have decided that Coke No Sugar is it,” Coca-Cola Australia marketing director Lucie Austin said.
“Australians have embraced Coke No Sugar – which from day one was carefully crafted to taste even more like Coca-Cola Classic, but without the sugar. It is no surprise that people are preferring it over Coke Zero – just as we have seen where we have launched this new recipe around the world.”
The Coca-Cola No Sugar was developed at the soft drink maker’s US headquarters for more than five years. The phasing out of Coke Zero is set for completion by September 2018.
“The new recipe for Coke No Sugar was intended to replace Coke Zero in Australia – and is known as Coke Zero Sugar in other markets,” Austin said. “Coke No Sugar marked the latest step in the evolution of our sugar-free [soft drinks] recipes that began with Diet Coke in 1982 and continued with Coke Zero in 2006. Not only did we want it to taste more like Coke, we wanted the experience of drinking Coke No Sugar to be as close as possible to the refreshment of ‘The Real Thing’. We think it’s the closest we have ever come to the taste of classic Coca-Cola.”
Austin said Coke No Sugar had surpassed their expectations since it was launched in Australia in June 2017.
“We are also seeing that the rapid growth of Coke No Sugar is helping to expand the low and no sugar drinks category overall,” added Austin.
Coca-Cola had recently pledged to reduce sugar by 20 per cent across its portfolio of sales by 2025.
