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Pepsi Raw, a natural cola launched earlier this year, will now be available to the take-home channel after an initial launch to UK pubs and bars, Britvic and PepsiCo announced today.

The existing 300ml glass solus format is currently on-shelf in Waitrose, Harrods and Harvey Nichols. A new 250ml aluminium can format will go on sale at Boots in November before rollout to the convenience and impulse channel in 2009.

New pack formats are in development to give consumers the opportunity to purchase exactly the right pack for their needs including a 4x250ml can multipack and a 4x300ml glass multipack. An 8x150ml can multipack will also be introduced for mixing purposes. Both formats will be on-shelf in early 2009.

Pepsi senior brand manager at Britvic, Ounal Bailey, said: “Bringing Pepsi Raw to a wider audience is an exciting prospect as it allows us to build on the success the brand has already achieved in the on-premise channel. Pepsi Raw really adds value to the category for consumers and retailers, driving increased interest through its new and exciting yet recognisable cola taste. We’re sure Pepsi Raw will soon become a staple product in consumers’ cola repertoire.”

Ounal added: “Cola is a hugely important category to the soft drinks market as it represents a quarter of all soft drinks sales in take-home and almost half in the on-premise sector. However, it's also a maturing category that needs rejuvenation to drive further growth.

“Pepsi Raw has provided this through its unique formulation made with ingredients from natural sources, putting a new spin on an old favourite and generating real excitement in the category.”