7UP rebrands as ‘100% natural’ in the US to boost health image

Soft drink brand 7UP is going “100% natural” in the US in a bid to boost its appeal to increasingly nutrition-conscious consumers.

The latest revamp comes two years after Cadbury Schweppes last tried to give 7UP health credentials with the launch of 7UP Plus, which was supplemented with calcium, vitamin C, real fruit juice, and sweetened with Splenda.

The lemon and lime flavoured carbonate is now undergoing a reformulation to eliminate artificial preservatives. Kelli Freeman, marketing vice-president of US owner Cadbury Schweppes, says: “Everything that remains in the can comes from a natural source.”

A television ad campaign beginning May 8 will show 7UP cans as fruits or vegetables, being picked or pulled from the ground.

Clear, caffeine-free lemon-lime drinks such as 7UP have traditionally been perceived as healthier than colas, and fuelled US soft-drink growth in the 1990s. But soft-drink growth, and especially that of carbonates, has now stalled, spurring drinks manufacturers to innovate further in a bid to recapture consumer interest.

Both Cadbury Schweppes in the US and European owner PepsiCo have worked to produce variants to promote consumer loyalty. During the past 20 years 7UP has featured a range of diet varieties as well as Cherry 7UP, 7UP Ice, which leaves a cold sensation as an aftertaste, 7UP Raspberry, 7UP Gold and other flavours including Orange, Cranberry and Mint. A spokesman for Britvic Soft Drinks, which holds the licence to bottle and distribute the brand in the UK, says there are no UK plans to reformulate 7UP.