NEW YORK (AP) -- If you don't like coffee or tea, Mountain Dew has a new breakfast drink that might perk you up.
PepsiCo
Inc. is rolling out a new drink called Kickstart this month that has
Mountain Dew flavor but is made with 5 percent juice and Vitamins B and
C, along with an extra jolt of caffeine.
The company, based in Purchase, N.Y., is hoping to boost sales by reaching Mountain Dew fans at a new time of day: morning.
PepsiCo
said it doesn't consider Kickstart to be an energy drink, noting that
it still has far less caffeine than drinks like Monster and Red Bull and
none of the mysterious ingredients that have raised concerns among
lawmakers and consumer advocates.
But
Kickstart, which comes in flavors such as "energizing orange citrus" and
"energizing fruit punch," could nevertheless give the company a
side-door into the fast-growing energy drink market without getting
tangled in any of its controversies.
It also
comes in the same 16-ounce cans as popular energy drinks made by Monster
Beverage Corp., which also offers options with juice content.
Simon
Lowden, chief marketing officer for PepsiCo's Americas beverages, says
the idea for Kickstart came about after the company learned through
consumer research that Mountain Dew fans were looking for an alternative
to traditional morning drinks such as coffee, tea and juice.
"They didn't really see anything that fit their needs," he said.
Lowden
said Kickstart was developed independently from a Taco Bell breakfast
drink introduced last year that combines Mountain Dew and orange juice.
With
the growth of energy drinks such as Monster and Red Bull expected to
slow, Kickstart could also signal the emergence of a new category that
plays off the promise of energy and other health benefits, said John
Sicher, publisher of the trade journal Beverage Digest.
In
a nod to the growing concerns about sugary drinks, for example,
Kickstart also uses artificial sweeteners to reduce its caloric content
to about half that of regular soda; a can has 80 calories.
"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.
The
promise of "energy" has been a big seller in the beverage industry in
recent years, with the energy drink market increasing 17 percent in 2011
even as broader soft drink consumption has continued to decline,
according to Beverage Digest. PepsiCo and the Coca-Cola Co. have largely
watched that growth from the sidelines, however, with players such as
Monster Beverage and Red Bull dominating the market.
But
the surging popularity of energy drinks has also led to sharper
scrutiny. This summer, New York's attorney general launched an
investigation into the marketing prices of energy drink makers including
Monster and PepsiCo, which also makes Amp. Lawmakers and consumer
advocacy groups have also called on the Food and Drug Administration to
investigate the safety of the high levels of caffeine in energy drinks
for younger people.
Although Kickstart may
look like an energy drink, it has far less caffeine, at 92 milligrams
for a 16-ounce can. A comparable amount of regular Mountain Dew would
have 72 milligrams of caffeine while a can of PepsiCo's Amp energy drink
has 142 milligrams, according to the Center for Science in the Public
Interest.
By comparison, a 16-ounce cup of Starbucks coffee has 330 milligrams of caffeine.
© 2013 The Associated Press modified.
Courtesy: Facebook.com/mountaindew
