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+1 (888) 646-0573Caffeine addicts across the nation – rejoice! PepsiCo Inc., the makers of Mountain Dew, created a new beverage that caters to the needs of soda fans who don’t enjoy the taste of coffee, tea and other morning drinks.
Called Kickstart, PepsiCo said that it didn’t make an energy drink, but rather an alternative to getting that extra jolt needed in the early hours. With several energy drinks under scrutiny by lawmakers and consumer advocates for misleading nutritional labels, company officials said that their new product has far less caffeine.
According to Simon Lowden, chief marketing officer for PepsiCo’s Americas beverages, the idea for Kickstart was born when his company learned through consumer research that Mountain Dew drinkers were looking for an alternative to traditional morning beverages such as coffee, tea and juice.
Kickstart has a bit of the Mountain Dew flavor but is made with 5 percent juice and Vitamins B and C, along with an extra jolt of caffeine.
John Sicher, publisher of the trade journal Beverage Digest, told the AP that with energy drinks like Monster and Red Bull slowing in popularity growth, Kickstart could also signal the emergence of a new category that plays off the promise of energy and other health benefits.
“It’s a very interesting experiment capturing a number of attributes,” Sicher said, likening it to Starbucks’ Refreshers drinks, which promise “natural energy” from green coffee extract.
Additionally, even though it looks like an energy drink, the Center for Science in the Public Interest said that it has far less caffeine, with 92 milligrams in a 16-ounce can. One can of regular Mountain Dew would have 72 milligrams of caffeine while a 16-ounce cup of Starbucks coffee has 330 milligrams of caffeine.
When food and drink makers create a new product, it’s important for them to design custom labels that clearly highlight the nutritional aspects. A Primera LX900 color label printer can be especially helpful in making unique labels that adhere to nutritional requirements.
