PepsiCo reintroduces aspartame in Diet Pepsi as sales fall further

PepsiCo will seek to arrest decline in its diet soda sales by reintroducing a “classic” variant of Diet Pepsi, complete with aspartame, just ten months after the brand unveiled plans to eliminate the controversial sweetener from Diet Pepsi’s formula.

The brand changed the recipe of Diet Pepsi last August in a bid to revitalise its diet soda sales, which had already fallen 5.2% on the year before. But further decline of 5.8% in the last 12 months has prompted PepsiCo to backtrack, and reintroduce the original formulation, which contained aspartame.

The current Diet Pepsi recipe will be available in the same silver cans, while a classic Diet Pepsi in retro blue cans will be offered alongside.

“Consumers want choice in diet colas, so we’re refreshing our US line-up to provide three options that meet differing needs and taste preferences,” said PepsiCo spokesperson Gina Anderson.

Pepsi will also change the name of Pepsi Max in the US to Pepsi Zero Sugar – an attempt to help better differentiate the sugar-free variant from other products in Pepsi’s core range.

It follows a move by Coca-Cola Great Britain two months ago to change the name of its sugar-free version, Coke Zero, amid falling consumer awareness of the differences between the four key variants in the Coca-Cola range. It also changed the recipe so that it “tastes even more like the original Coca-Cola”.