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Pepsi surpasses Diet Coke in huge soda shift
(Pepsi)
Pepsi-Cola has surpassed Diet Coke to become the No. 2 soda brand in the US behind Coca-Cola.
Diet Coke volume fell 6.6% in 2014, according to the trade publication Beverage Digest.
The drink now has a market share of 8.5%, slightly smaller than Pepsi's 8.8% share.
Coca-Cola remains a clear leader, with a 17.6% share of the market. But volumes increased only 0.1% in 2014.
Here's how the rankings shake out, according to Beverage Digest.
(Beverage Digest)
Diet Coke has been the second biggest brand by volume in the US since 2010, when it pushed Pepsi to the No. 3 spot.
Pepsi's shift back to the No. 2 spot is evidence of Americans' growing dislike for diet sodas, as shown in the chart below from a Morgan Stanley report last year.
(Morgan Stanley)Sales of low-calorie soft drinks in the US have dropped b nearly 20% over the past five years, according to Euromonitor data cited by the Washington Post.
Americans are drinking less soda overall, but diet drinks have been hit particularly hard because of a growing mistrust of artificial sweeteners.
"Consumer's attitudes towards sweeteners have really changed," said Howard Telford, an industry analyst with Euromonitor, told the Washington Post. "There's a very negative perception about artificial sweeteners. The industry is still trying to get its head around this."
For that reason, many soda companies have been experimenting with low-calorie drinks that use natural, non-sugar sweeteners, such as stevia.
PepsiCo's newly launched drink, Pepsi True, has a blend of sugar and stevia. Coke also recently launched a stevia-and-sugar carbonated beverage called Coke Life.
But many analysts are skeptical that Stevia-based drinks will succeed, due to the sweetener's bitter after-taste.
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