Hasta La Creative!

PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi conceded on Monday that cola has lost some of its “cool factor,” but plugged the company’s new “craft” cola brand as one way to restore luster to the sagging category.

Pepsi launched the new brand, called Caleb’s Kola, in late 2014 using a formula that includes cane sugar, kola nuts from Africa, spices and a hint of citrus. Ms. Nooyi, who spoke at Beverage Digest’s “Future Smarts” conference in New York, did not share early sales results. But she said “I think there is actually a huge potential for craft cola.” She added that “people still love the cola taste — it’s just lost some of its cool factor and I think products like Caleb’s are bringing back some of the cool factor.”

Ms. Nooyi made the comments during a question-and-answer session with Beverage Digest editor and publisher John Sicher, who pressed her on a range of issues. She said PepsiCo was “rolling the dice on a lot of new ideas right now,” but is not “taking foolish risks.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com