Schweppes to take on Pepsi in teen drinks

Cadbury Schweppes is taking on Pepsi’s “alternative” soft drink Mountain Dew with the launch of a rival called Raging Hog.

Like Mountain Dew, Raging Hog is a neon green colour. It is sold in luminous pink cans and is available in a range of fruit flavours, including lemon. The drink is being marketed by Coca-Cola Schweppes Beverages.

“There is room in the teenage soft drink market for something fairly anarchic and that’s what Raging Hog is about. The sector has performed well in the US and we feel we could do the same here. There’s certainly room for carbonated soft drinks which are not red, white or blue,” says Dominic Lowe, vice president of marketing at Schweppes.

Lowe says the drink is being launched gradually in the UK market and has been available for the past month in Scotland.

Pepsi rival Mountain Dew was launched earlier this year in the UK backed by a 6m TV campaign. The brand has been available in the US for years, where it now sells about 3 billion litres annually and is the leading non-cola carbonated soft drink.