Filed under: Products and services, Consumer experience, Coca-Cola (KO), PepsiCo (PEP), Marketing and advertising, Kraft Foods’A’ (KFT)
Is there anything cooler than Kool-Aid? Kraft (NYSE: KFT) believes there’s, my friends. In fact, Kraft thinks a healthier Kool-Aid is pretty darn hip!
According to this AP article, Kraft wants to position the Kool-Aid brand to health-conscious moms as a beverage that’s okay for children to consume. The food company will be adding vitamin E to one of the Kool-Aid varieties, and it has reformulated its sugar-free lineup to improve the taste. There’s also a new Kool-Aid product on the market called Burstin’ Waters that’s supposed to be relatively healthy.
The company actually has been pretty good about trying to make its products not as junky. As the article says, Kraft introduced an initiative a few years back to create a set of nutritional guidelines that would aid the company in making its portfolio more in tune with the current zeitgeist; indeed, moms everywhere seem to be getting sick of putting sugary, fat-inducing foodstuffs into the stomachs of their kids. Of course, I’m sure kids still get away with eating junk at times (it’s like an inalienable right of the youth); for the most part, though, consumer choices are shifting, and woe be the consumer-goods entity that does not respond. Just ask Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP). Those two have been kicking it into high gear when it comes to alternatives to sugary carbonated sodas. Pepsi and Coke now offer all kinds of waters and enhanced beverages; in Pepsi’s case, many of its salty-snack products are decidedly healthier. Coke purchased VitaminWater last year, and has been doing well with it. And with vitamins all the rage, Kraft would be smart to really promote the heck out of that vitamin-E addition.
From this point on, the public is going to increasingly demand food and drink of a higher quality, consumables that can promote wellness. Kraft needs to sell the public on its new Kool-Aid, especially since, no matter how much improved it is, it still is, well, Kool-Aid. It’ll never be the healthiest thing on the market, but with the right campaign, perceptions can change, and sales can grow. Kool-Aid is still a famous brand, and tiny evolutions like this can help it remain relevant.
Disclosure: I own shares of Coca-Cola; positions can change at any time.
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