List of Pepsi variations

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Global product variants

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In its first 60 years of production (1903 - 1963), the brand name “Pepsi-Cola” represented a single product--the original namesake cola now simply known as “Pepsi”.

  • International expansion in 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s. different flavors and variations were introduced. Offerings varied based on local cultural taste preferences, etc. Example = Pepsi Max in U.K.

Pepsi Variants

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Pepsi product variants
Name Dates of production Description
Pepsi YEAR-present Original version. First named Pepsi-Cola; later shortened to "Pepsi." Made with high fructose corn syrup in some
Diet Pepsi YEAR-present TEXTDESCRIPTION
Pepsi Max YEAR-present TEXTDESCRIPTION
FLAVORNAME YEAR-present TEXTDESCRIPTION
FLAVORNAME YEAR-present TEXTDESCRIPTION
FLAVORNAME YEAR-present TEXTDESCRIPTION
FLAVORNAME YEAR-present TEXTDESCRIPTION
FLAVORNAME YEAR-present TEXTDESCRIPTION
FLAVORNAME YEAR-present TEXTDESCRIPTION

North America

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United States

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The first ever variation of the original Pepsi was released in 1964: Diet Pepsi. At the time it was billed as a “low-calorie” soda, as the initial version contained 1 calorie per serving; though Diet Pepsi would later go on to become a “zero-calorie” soda.

  • In the U.S., Pepsi is made with carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sugar, Phosphoric acid, caffeine, citric acid and natural flavors.
  • Throwback
  • Diet Pepsi
  • caffeine-free
  • 1998: Pepsi-Cola announces breakthrough product: Pepsi One, great-tasting, one-calorie cola is first in United States with newly FDA approved sweetener Sunett. 2005: Pepsi-Cola North America announced it will add Splenda brand sweetener to a newly reformulated Pepsi ONE, creating a full-flavor cola taste with only one calorie.
  • 2002: Pepsi-Cola Company introduces a "Pepsi Twist." Regular and diet versions of the crisp new cola with lemon are entering retail outlets in selected U.S. markets.
  • 2003: Pepsi Vanilla is launched in the United States.
  • 2004: Pepsi-Cola to launch Pepsi Edge, the first full-flavored cola with 50% less sugar, carbohydrates and calories than regular cola.
  • 2005: Pepsi Lime and Diet Pepsi Lime Launch
  • 2007: Pepsi-Cola North America launches Diet Pepsi MAX. Diet Pepsi Jazz introduces new Caramel Cream flavor.
  • 2007: PepsiCo introduces three new products—Pepsi Natural, Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback, all sweetened with natural sugar

According to Beverage Digest's 2008 report on carbonated soft drinks, PepsiCo's U.S. market share is 30.8 percent, while The Coca-Cola Company's is 42.7 percent.[17] Coca-Cola outsells Pepsi in most parts of the U.S., notable exceptions being central Appalachia, North Dakota, and Utah. In the city of Buffalo, New York, Pepsi outsells Coca-Cola by a two-to-one margin.[18]

Canada

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Pepsi had long been the drink of Canadian Francophones and it continues to hold its dominance by relying on local Québécois celebrities (especially Claude Meunier, of La Petite Vie fame) to sell its product.[20] PepsiCo use the slogan "here, it's Pepsi" (Ici, c'est Pepsi) to answer to Coca-cola publicity "Everywhere in the world, it's Coke" (Partout dans le monde, c'est Coke).[19]

Latin America

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  • 2006: PepsiCo Launches Pepsi Limon in Peru
  • In July 2009, Pepsi started marketing itself as "Pecsi" in Argentina in response to its name being mispronounced by 25 percent of the population, and as a way to connect more with all of the population.[16]

Europe

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  • 1993: Pepsi-Cola International introduces Pepsi Max, a soft drink with unique blend of sweeteners that delivers maximum cola taste in a no-sugar product
  • 2005: Britvic Launches Pepsi Max Cino

Russia

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In Russia, Pepsi initially had a larger market share than Coke but it was undercut once the Cold War ended. In 1972, PepsiCo company struck a barter agreement with the then government of the Soviet Union, in which PepsiCo was granted exportation and Western marketing rights to Stolichnaya vodka in exchange for importation and Soviet marketing of Pepsi-Cola.[23][24] This exchange led to Pepsi-Cola being the first foreign product sanctioned for sale in the U.S.S.R.[25]

Reminiscent of the way that Coca-Cola became a cultural icon and its global spread spawned words like "coca colonization", Pepsi-Cola and its relation to the Soviet system turned it into an icon. In the early 1990s, the term "Pepsi-stroika" began appearing as a pun on "perestroika", the reform policy of the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev. Critics viewed the policy as an attempt to usher in Western products in deals there with the old elites. Pepsi, as one of the first American products in the Soviet Union, became a symbol of that relationship and the Soviet policy.[26]

In 1992, following the Soviet collapse, Coca-Cola was introduced to the Russian market. As it came to be associated with the new system, and Pepsi to the old, Coca-Cola rapidly captured a significant market share that might otherwise have required years to achieve. By July 2005, Coca-Cola enjoyed a market share of 19.4 percent, followed by Pepsi with 13 percent.[27]

On July 6, 2009, PepsiCo announced it would make a $1 billion investment in Russia over three years, bringing the total Pepsi investment in the country to $4 billion.[15]

  • 2009: PepsiCo opens new Russian beverage plant in Domodedovo, the largest bottling plant in PepsiCo's global system

Middle East

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Israel

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Pepsi did not sell soft drinks in Israel until 1991. Some Israelis and American Jewish organizations attributed Pepsi's previous reluctance to do battle to the Arab boycott. PepsiCo denied these claims, communicating that economic, rather than political, reason kept it out of Israel.[28]

Asia Pacific

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China

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India

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By most accounts, Coca-Cola was India's leading soft drink until 1977 when it left India after a new government ordered The Coca-Cola Company to turn over its secret formula for Coke and dilute its stake in its Indian unit as required by the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA). In 1988, PepsiCo gained entry to India by creating a joint venture with the Punjab government-owned Punjab Agro Industrial Corporation (PAIC) and Voltas India Limited. This joint venture marketed and sold Lehar Pepsi until 1991 when the use of foreign brands was allowed; PepsiCo bought out its partners and ended the joint venture in 1994. In 1993, The Coca-Cola Company returned in pursuance of India's Liberalization policy.[21] In 2005, The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo together held 95% market share of soft-drink sales in India. Coca-Cola India's market share was 52.5%.[22]

  • 1994: Pepsi-Cola is first major soft drink maker to begin producing and distributing its product in Vietnam.
  • 2009?: PepsiCo open first overseas green plant in China as part of its $1 billion investment in the country
  • ?PepsiCo Greater China opens newest bottling plant, Chengdu Pepsi Beverage Co. Ltd. in West China