Whether you’re an ambitious young brand or a multi-billion dollar beverage behemoth, the quest to capture bubbly refreshment is never ending; luckily, both of this week’s products have found their own respective paths. To submit your beverage product to BevNET for review, click here. And to browse past reviews, check the archive here.
Pepsi enters the functional soda space with a pair of prebiotic enhanced offerings, Prebiotic Cola and Prebiotic Cola Cherry Vanilla. Both products clock in at 30 calories, use a blend of cane sugar and stevia, and deliver 3 grams of dietary fiber. The cans lean heavily on classic Pepsi iconography, using a white background to signal lower calories and simple fruit or bottle cap graphics to distinguish variants. While the flavors outperform typical reduced calorie or Diet Pepsi options thanks to the cane sugar (which is also better than the HFCS used in regular Pepsi) and the sweetener blend, the overall branding feels more clinical than contemporary, especially compared with Poppi, the prebiotic brand Pepsi recently acquired.
Things that stand out:
- Solid flavor execution, with cane sugar helping achieve a cleaner and more rounded sweetness. Noticeably less aftertaste than Diet Pepsi and less viscous body than regular Pepsi. The liquid really is the best part and we think it’s a step above what we’ve seen from some of Pepsi’s LTOs.
- Clear variant cues on pack, with cherry imagery and bottle caps aiding quick shelf recognition. They clearly prioritized alignment with core Pepsi branding, ensuring familiarity for mainstream shoppers.
Things to consider:
- Branding feels a bit technical, lacking the modern and playful aesthetic that defines Poppi. This may mean consumers choosing this only when they are seeking prebiotics, which we think misses the reason why they would reach for a brand like Poppi.
- Packaging may not convey the functional benefits compellingly enough for shoppers new to the category. Specifically, why would they want prebiotic soda?
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Mirth is a line of organic fruit juice sweetened sparkling waters packaged in colorful matte-finish 12 ounce cans. The products contain 20 to 45 calories per can and rely entirely on organic fruit juice, which ranges from 12-42% percent each, for sweetness and flavor. The three varieties, Blueberry Pomegranate, Strawberry Limeade and Blood Orange Cherry, deliver light, refreshing, and very true-to-name fruit profiles along with added electrolytes. The packaging uses a playful face silhouette as the focal point, giving the brand an approachable and quirky feel.
Things that stand out:
- We like the clean ingredient panel with no added sugar, while the use of organic fruit juice definitely helps differentiate the product. Modest calorie counts are a plus while added electrolytes support a functional hydration message.
- Flavor profiles are very enjoyable. They are packed with fruit flavor but light and very refreshing.
- The matte finish cans with bright colors and playful character graphics give the product a fun personality. All three are strong, but Blood Orange Cherry, which offers the most balanced profile, was our favorite.
Things to consider:
- We think the front panel messaging needs a bit of work. It currently lacks clear calorie or sugar callouts, which makes the product’s key points of differentiation easy to miss.
- Flavors are light enough that some consumers may expect a bolder taste given the high juice percentages and the bold colors of the cans.
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