PepsiCo Announces Launch of Stevia-Sweetened Beverage

PepsiCo and Whole Earth Sweetener Company are partnering to introduce a breakthrough, zero-calorie, all-natural sweetener from the stevia plant. It's called PureVia™ and will debut in a new nutritionally enhanced PepsiCo beverage called "SoBe Life," to be launched in Latin America, starting with Peru. PureVia™ tabletop sweetener will launch in the United States this fall before expanding into drink and food products around the world. PureVia will be available initially in three SoBe Life flavor blends: Tropical Pomegranate, Strawberry-Kiwi and Orange-Tangerine.

"Consumers have always been looking for a beverage that is natural, tastes great and has no calories, and SoBe Life with PureVia™ answers the call," said Massimo d'Amore, CEO of PepsiCo Americas Beverages. "This will have great appeal to health-conscious people who are looking for hydration and natural ingredients."

More information regarding the Latin American launch of SoBe Life with PureVia can be found at www.thrillicious.com/sobelife. Supporting both branding and innovation efforts, The Arnell Group is SoBe Life's agency of record throughout the Americas.

In May, Whole Earth Sweetener Company, a subsidiary of Merisant Company focused solely on natural products, submitted a notification and supporting scientific data to the FDA that the ingredient is generally recognized as safe for use in beverages, foods and tabletop sweeteners. PepsiCo intends to market PureVia™ in beverages and foods and Whole Earth Sweetener Company will market the brand as a tabletop sweetener.

"The introduction of PureVia represents the culmination of four years of research and development to bring this revolutionary new product to market and satisfy consumer demand for great tasting, all-natural, zero-calorie sweeteners," said Paul Block, chief executive officer of Merisant and Whole Earth Sweetener Company. "What's unique about PureVia is that we've identified a way to extract the purest part of the stevia leaf to reveal the cleanest and most consistent taste."

"This is a potential game-changer among zero-calorie sweeteners," said Lou Imbrogno, PepsiCo's senior vice president of Pepsi Worldwide Technical Operations. "PureVia is all natural. It's extracted from the stevia plant leaf and not synthetically produced. We've got ample supply and we look forward to bringing PureVia™ to consumers around the world."

As a tabletop sweetener, all-natural, zero-calorie PureVia can be used in place of sugar in both hot and cold beverages, as well as sprinkled on cereal and fruit. It will be available for purchase at food and grocery stores across the United States and at PureVia.com later this fall in 40-stick cartons.

The active sweetener in PureVia is Reb A, an all-natural, purified component of the South American stevia plant - long known for its extraordinary sweetness. Stevia is approximately 200 times as sweet as sugar, and Reb A is the sweetest, purest part of the stevia leaf. Other forms of stevia, which typically are less pure than PureVia, are currently sold in the United States as dietary supplements and have been used for years by consumers in countries such as Brazil, Japan and South Korea.

"PureVia is sweetened with a purified extract of the stevia plant," said Sergio Machado, director of research and development for Whole Earth Sweetener Company. "After the stevia leaves are milled, a freshwater brewing method is used to unlock the natural sweeteners, including the best-tasting extract of the plant - Reb A. This extract is then purified further until a very high purity Reb A is obtained."

PepsiCo and Whole Earth Sweetener Company have formed an unprecedented partnership through which they will jointly own and market PureVia™ globally. The two companies have agreed to buy the natural sweetener from PureCircle, a leading supplier of pure Reb A, which also will have the exclusive license to market Reb A under the PureVia™ brand in certain categories.

Source:PepsiCo and Whole Earth Sweetener Company press release