7Up introduces soft drink with calcium and vitamin C

One 8 oz serving contains 10% of the daily recommended allowance of calcium and vitamin C, which will appeal to soda drinkers looking for a healthier lifestyle but who don't want to give up their cola habit. In a highly competitive market, it remains to be seen if 7-Up Plus can register impressive sales, especially following the recent release of Pepsi's Sierra Mist.

• Cadbury Schweppes (CSG) on Tuesday will introduce 7Up Plus, the latest in the industry's trend toward better-for-you soft drinks.
• The company hopes the low-calorie drink with doses of fruit juice, calcium and vitamin C --- and a little pink coloring and berry flavor --- can help revive a struggling 7Up brand.
• "It's a healthy version of the soft drink, and it's got great flavor and taste," says Randy Gier, 7Up's executive vice president of marketing.
• Clear, caffeine-free lemon-lime drinks such as 7Up have traditionally been perceived as healthier than colas and fueled soft-drink growth in the 1990s.
• Lemon-lime volume in supermarkets this year is down 4.6% vs. a drop of 1.7% for all carbonated soft drinks, according to industry tracker Beverage Digest.
• The $64 billion soft-drink industry's healthier trend is being driven by a loss of sales share by its flagship fizzy drinks to juice and water options.
• Lemon-lime's healthier perception may make consumers more likely to take a better-for-you spin in that category.
• Coke's Diet Sprite will be renamed Sprite 0 by Labor Day.
• Plus has 10% of recommended daily levels of calcium and vitamin C and 10 calories per 8-ounce serving.
• New York University nutritionist Lisa Young says a good diet already supplies sufficient calcium and vitamin C. "Trying to sell it because it has calcium and vitamins is pure marketing," she says.
• "But it certainly beats a regular 7Up that has more sugar."
• Morgan Stanley beverage analyst Bill Pecoriello says Cadbury might do better to focus on Diet 7Up.
• Ads for 7Up Plus by Young & Rubicam in New York feature Kelly Ripa and Regis Philbin in one and Sex and the City stars Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis in another.