Outrage as Coke Zero to be axed to make way for ‘revolting’ Coke No Sugar

COKE Zero is about to be killed off, and customers are furious about its replacement, asking “what on earth” the company is doing.

Frank Chung
JULY 19, 2018
news.com.au

COKE Zero fans are crying foul over news their favourite drink will be dumped in less than two weeks to make way for the “revolting” Coke No Sugar, while our Kiwi cousins are spared.

 Coca-Cola announced on Wednesday that “following the successful launch of Coke No Sugar”, Coke Zero would be completely phased out by August 1.

The company said customers had voted with their wallets to say “goodbye to Coke Zero” and “hello to Coke No Sugar”, overwhelmingly choosing the new flavour — but many weren’t buying it.

“Coke No Sugar tastes like a glass of chemicals,” Deb Deb wrote on Facebook. “The only reason it is outselling Zero is because for every box of Zero there are 29 boxes of No Sugar on the supermarket shelves.”

‎Max Bettridge said, “What on earth are you guys doing? Of course your sales of No Sugar are up when many places haven’t stocked Zero for some time — that’s hardly an accurate statistic!”

Cassandra Orton added, “How can you say that customers made the choice to go with No Sugar when Zero is difficult to buy? Coke No Sugar is revolting. If there’s not going to be Zero anymore then I’ll have to find another drink. Might have to start learning how to drink water again.” 

Kym Saillard agreed. “Hate Coke No Sugar. Looks like we will be drinking water only once Zero is removed,” she wrote. Cassandra Cole added that it “makes it easier to quit Coke altogether then”. 

Toni Detloff said Coke Zero was the “best one”. “Coke No Sugar is awful and I have heard that from a lot of people,” she wrote. “So many people love [Coke Zero] and they choose to get rid of it. I might go to Pepsi Max.” 

Janet Crocker wrote, “Stop kidding yourself, Coca-Cola. Have you actually tasted No Sugar? I doubt it otherwise you wouldn’t be removing Coke Zero. Coke No Sugar tastes terrible and quite clearly from all these comments I’m not the only one to think this.”

Many said they preferred the unique taste of Coke Zero compared with Coke No Sugar, which Coca-Cola said was “carefully crafted to taste even more like Coca-Cola Classic, but without the sugar”.

“No Sugar is supposed to taste like normal Coke, however many of us like the fact that Zero tastes different,” said Roland Handel.

John Brandt added, “The new No Sugar does indeed taste like original Coke, but that isn’t what people want! We buy Zero because it’s got no sugar and it tastes like Zero. After years of drinking Zero, ‘original’ Coke tastes sickly sugary and syrupy. We want Zero to taste like Zero, that’s why we buy it. We don’t want a no-sugar drink to taste like the other stuff.”

Greg Le Couteur said Coca-Cola should “learn from Arnott’s mistake when they messed with BBQ Shapes”. “Coke Zero is perfect, don’t wreck it,” he wrote. “No Sugar is rubbish. Looks like I’ll be switching to Pepsi Max now.”

A Change.org petition calling on Coca-Cola to “save Coke Zero” had attracted more than 1000 signatures. “The discontinuation of Coke Zero is a crime,” wrote petition creator Elly Chaney.

On the decision to give Coke Zero a stay of execution across the ditch, a spokesman for Coca-Cola South Pacific said, “While the phase-out of Coke Zero is due to be complete by September in Australia, Coca-Cola will continue to monitor and respond to the demands of Kiwis.

“We’re a consumer-focused business, so we closely monitor Kiwis’ tastes and preferences to ensure we deliver refreshing beverages. We can reveal that over 600,000 Kiwis have enjoyed a Coke No Sugar since launch and many of them are now regular drinkers.”

On Wednesday, Coca-Cola Australia marketing director Lucie Austin said close to 3.5 million Australians had “enjoyed a Coke No Sugar since launch and many of them are now regular drinkers”. 

Coke No Sugar now stocked in around 110,000 outlets including Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and nearly all of Australia’s petrol and convenience stores.

“We said that we would let people decide and we are pleased to say the results are in — Australians have decided that Coke No Sugar is it,” Ms Austin said.

“Australians have embraced Coke No Sugar — which from day one was carefully crafted to taste even more like Coca-Cola Classic, but without the sugar.

“It is no surprise that people are preferring it over Coke Zero — just as we have seen where we have launched this new recipe around the world.

“The new recipe for Coke No Sugar was intended to replace Coke Zero in Australia — and is known as Coke Zero Sugar in other markets. Coke No Sugar marked the latest step in the evolution of our sugar-free Coke recipes that began with Diet Coke in 1982 and continued with Coke Zero in 2006. 

“Not only did we want it to taste more like Coke, we wanted the experience of drinking Coke No Sugar to be as close as possible to the refreshment of ‘The Real Thing’. We think it’s the closest we have ever come to the taste of classic Coca-Cola.”

Bottling company Coca-Cola Amatil holds around 40 per cent share of Australia’s $4.7 billion soft drink manufacturing industry, according to IBISWorld.

Japanese drinks giant Asahi, which manufactures and distributes Pepsi in Australia under license from PepsiCo, holds just over 20 per cent market share.