Cucumber-Flavored Soda Sold in Japan
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(AP)
Bottles of Pepsi Ice Cucumber are
on display at a convenience store
in Tokyo Wednesday, June 13, 2007 |
TOKYO (AP) - Japanese are
staying cool as a cucumber this summer with
"Pepsi Ice Cucumber" - a new soda
based on the crisp green gourd.
The
soft drink, which hit stores here on Tuesday,
doesn't actually have any cucumber in it
- but has been artificially flavored to
resemble "the refreshing taste of a
fresh cucumber," said Aya Takemoto,
spokeswoman of Japan's Pepsi distributor,
Suntory Ltd.
"We
wanted a flavor that makes people think
of keeping cool in the summer heat,"
Takemoto said. "We thought the cucumber
was just perfect."
The
mint-colored soda is on sale just for the
summer and only in Japan, Takemoto said.
She said initial sales were brisk, and Suntory
aims to sell 200,000 cases over the next
three months.
Pepsi
trails behind industry leaders Coca Cola
(Japan) Company, with about 15 percent of
the Japanese cola market, and also faces
stiff competition from non-fizzy bottled
drinks like green tea and coffee, which
are popular here.
Suntory
said it sold 20.5 million cases of Pepsi
brand drinks in 2006, including its popular
Pepsi NEX zero-calorie soda.
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