PepsiCo announced today the launch of Pepsi Mango, the core brand’s first permanent flavor addition in five years. The new product, available in regular and Zero Sugar varieties, will roll out nationwide next week.
Pepsi Mango will launch primarily in grocery, mass and convenience retailers and will be available in 12-packs of 12 oz. cans and 20 oz. bottles. The flavor was initially conceived in 2019, when it was launched as a limited time offering alongside other Pepsi flavor variations including Lime and Berry. However, according to Todd Kaplan, VP of Marketing for trademark Pepsi, the permanent edition comes as the CSD category is reporting growth driven by flavor innovations.
“We know that this specific concept and this specific flavor really resonates with a variety of our different consumer cohorts,” Kaplan told BevNET. “With our core Pepsi drinkers, as well as with Hispanics and younger millennials, and a number of other different cohorts, [Mango] just tested off the charts, especially around repeat rate and things like that. So we’re going to make a big bet on it and really lean in.”
Though CSDs have previously seen sharp declines in sales, largely driven by a consumer shift towards low and zero sugar products, the category has risen double digits over the past two years. According to market research firm Nielsen, carbonated soft drinks were up 12.3% year-over-year to $30.8 billion for the 52-week period ending February 20. Regular CSDs were up 11.7% in that period, while low calorie and diet drinks grew 14.1%. Within the category, PepsiCo’s total CSD sales were up 10.3% in the 52-week period to over $9 billion.
Pepsi’s focus on flavor innovation follows moves in recent years by its chief competitor The Coca-Cola Company, which introduced in 2019 a permanent Orange Vanilla variety of Coke and Coke Zero Sugar. Last year, the company sought to “reinvent” its Sprite brand with the addition of a Ginger flavor.
Earlier this year, PepsiCo released MTN Dew Major Melon, a watermelon variant of the citrus soda. However, the company has rarely introduced permanent new offerings to the core Pepsi line, the most recent being Pepsi Vanilla in 2016.
According to Kaplan, the company chose mango for the launch as the stone fruit has reported rapid growth, with sales tripling in the U.S. over the past decade. Mango beverages report roughly $8.9 billion in dollar sales per year and the flavor is up over 200% in alcoholic drinks and 43 million tons of mangoes are produced annually.
“When you think about mango, it really goes with a lot of cuisines,” Kaplan said. “You see it in salads, in Mexican salsa and Japanese food, in Indian food and Brazilian food, smoothies, etc. It really goes across the gamut…. It also happens to go really, really well with Pepsi. It’s surprisingly the perfect match.”
And “The Perfect Match” is precisely how Pepsi intends to sell the product. The slogan is being used in marketing materials, including a 15 second television commercial set to begin airing this month. The “match” theme will also carry over into several promotional programs focused around dating, including an Instagram campaign that has recruited adult singles from around the country in an attempt to find a romantic partner.
“We had an open casting call on Twitter to ask any singles that want to be a part of this campaign to let us know in our DMs,” Kaplan said. “We found a number of actual real life people who are going to use our media buy to actually have them get up there and say, ‘Hi, I’m Kyle, I’m this age, I’m from this place, I like this, I’m looking for that’ and try to help them find the perfect match for them, which is really, really fun.”
The company has also partnered with Viacom to launch a prime time reality TV dating show to air on CBS. Details for the show have not yet been released, Kaplan said, but a formal announcement will be made next month.
Pepsi Mango also comes at a time where PepsiCo is expanding and evolving its beverage portfolio, including extensions into new categories such as energy drinks. In addition to its acquisition of Rockstar last year, the conglomerate has also tailored innovation on the MTN Dew line around energy occasions. The Mango announcement comes on the heels of yesterday’s launch of MTN Dew Rise, a new energy drink line released in partnership with NBA star Lebron James. PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta has previously stated the company’s intent to take a multi-pronged approach to the energy space, one that includes MTN Dew as a key player.
For trademark Pepsi, however, Kaplan said the company will continue to innovate in order to continue meeting changing consumer trends and needs, but the line’s new products will not be as transformative.
“It’s the idea of unapologetic enjoyment, that’s the way we like to talk about it for Pepsi, which is really the role that a cola plays,” he said. “It’s fun, it’s just a little small indulgence.”