Dive Brief:
- Just two months after changing its recipe, Vitaminwater has reversed course and returned to its original crystalline fructose and sugar formula.
- The reversal follows an onslaught of complaints from customers who disliked a new stevia-and-sugar formulation, who made their feelings known on social media.
- Vitaminwater, owned by Coca-Cola unit Glacéau, announced its decision in a post on Facebook in which it acknowledged that consumers "haven't had the greatest things to say" about the stevia version.
Dive Insight:
The folks in the C-suite in Coca-Cola's Atlanta headquarters must be worrying quite a bit about the company's much-promoted plan to expand tests of a new, stevia-sweetened version of Coke, dubbed Coca-Cola Life.
On a more positive note, the folks in the public-relations department must be quite pleased with themselves. The announcement of Vitaminwater's return to its original taste was handled beautifully ... and consumers have responded enthusiastically.