Pepsi Trying New Diet Lemon-Lime Drink

Beverage giant PepsiCo Inc. Wednesday said it is testing a diet lemon-lime soft drink, called Light Storm, hoping its new sweetener will attract consumers who shunned its other lemon-lime offering, Diet Slice.

Pepsi-Cola North America, the beverage unit of PepsiCo, will begin test marketing the new zero-calorie beverage this week in 11 markets, including Colorado, Las Vegas, Omaha, Milwaukee, and northern California. Company spokesman Dave DeCecco said PepsiCo is replacing its other fruit-flavored soda, Slice, with Storm in test markets and could do a complete switch if Storm goes nationwide.

"The lemon-lime category has been kind of stale. Storm has a smoother taste and less carbonation than Slice," DeCecco said.

Light Storm is the second major US soda, behind Pepsi One, to use acesulfame potassium, or Ace-K, which the Food and Drug Administration approved last year.

The company has been marketing regular Storm since last year and has received positive consumer feedback. Pepsi said marketing for Light Storm will include tags on Storm television advertisements, in-store sampling, and newspaper inserts.

If Storm and Light Storm launch nationwide, the brands will go head-to-head with market leaders Sprite and Diet Sprite from archrival Coca-Cola Co. and 7 Up and Diet 7 Up from Britain's Cadbury Schweppes.

DeCecco said lemon-lime Storm will not compete with PepsiCo's Mountain Dew or Coca-Cola's Surge which fall under the separate citrus category of sodas. PepsiCo is already pitching Light Storm as the tasty alternative to Diet Sprite, saying blind taste tests show consumers preferred Light Storm to Diet Sprite 57% to 43%.