Stock up, sugar lovers.
Globe and Mail said:Coca-Cola Ltd. is revamping its flagship product in Canada, making it a little less sweet and bringing it in line with Coke in its other markets around the world. The change is also in response to consumers' thirst for fewer calories, the company says. The new product, which starts to hit store shelves on Tuesday, will have a lower syrup concentration and about 8 per cent fewer calories 240 calories for a 591-millilitre bottle of Coke, compared with 260.
The company risks losing some customers who may notice a little less syrup concentration, industry watchers said. Coca-Cola will have to focus on avoiding what was a monumental blunder of the U.S.-based parent company in 1985 when it reformulated its top soft drink into New Coke and was forced to bring back its original product, renaming it Classic.
Mr. Samoszewski said the company in Canada is reducing Coke's sweetness to put it in line with the product in the rest of the world and not as a cost-slimming measure. He said the product's basic "secret formula" remains the same. The company's research found that Canadian consumers prefer the taste of Coke that's available in other parts of the world, he said. But the difference is subtle, he added.