Dive Brief:
- PepsiCo finished a test run of warm soft drinks and teas served in heated cases at a dozen CVS stores in the Boston area, BevNET reported. The company is now reviewing sales data, a company spokesperson told BevNET.
- PepsiCo completed the test about two weeks ago, but the company didn't comment on how long the products had been available in stores or how long the company had been developing the product, for "competitive reasons," BevNET reported.
- While warmed RTD drinks have yet to pick up in the U.S., they are well-established in Japan and becoming more popular in China and India.
Dive Insight:
If hot soda doesn't take off in the U.S., the heated can technology could enable soda manufacturers like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo to further diversify RTD tea and coffee portfolios. This technology could also break open new categories, such as heated RTD soups, similar to the chilled RTD soups made by startup Tio Gazpacho, which recently closed a funding round led by General Mills' 301 Inc.
Warmed RTD beverages have mainly been relegated to coffee and tea, such as Coca-Cola's canned coffee line under its Georgia Coffee brand or the SoBe and Lipton varieties PepsiCo used in its U.S. test. But warmed carbonated beverages are far less common, and it's debatable whether such a product could put soda back into consumers' carts. Innovations like mini-cans have worked for soda makers because they allow consumers to adjust to a smaller, "better-for-you" portion size.
Coca-Cola introduced a Canada Dry Hot Ginger Ale in Japan in September 2013, but the company discontinued the product in 2014. Japanese drinks company Kirin Beverage Co. followed up that launch with its own hot soft drink debut that November.
Coca-Cola and major tea manufacturer Ito En are two of the leading producers of warmed RTD beverages in other areas of the world.