Pepsi Raw

Pepsi Raw, also marketed as Pepsi Natural in North America, was a cola soft drink created by PepsiCo and Britvic as a "Sparkling Cola Drink with Natural Plant Extracts". The drink first launched in February 2008 in Britain, targeting upmarket pubs.^[1] It was then also launched in Norway in August 2010,^[2] in Australia in 2011, and under the name "Pepsi Natural" in the United States and Mexico in March 2009.^[3][4]

Pepsi Raw

A 12 fl oz bottle of Pepsi Natural
Type	Cola soft drink
Manufacturer	PepsiCo
Origin	United Kingdom
Introduced	2008
Discontinued	2011; 14 years ago (2011)

An unrelated product named Pepsi Nama (Nama meaning "Raw" in Japanese) was launched in 2021 by Suntory, the Japanese distributor of Pepsi, where the cola spices are not heated and therefore natural;^[5] later in 2023, PepsiCo China released a Zero Sugar version of it with the English name as "Pepsi Raw".^[6]

Marketing

Cans of Pepsi Raw

Pepsi Raw contained naturally sourced ingredients that were free from artificial flavouring, colourings, preservatives and sweeteners.^[7] Advertising for Pepsi Raw presented the product as a natural alternative to other colas.

To help promote Pepsi Raw, an experiential marketing campaign dubbed "Natural Born Cola" was launched. Promotional workers traveled to grocery retail, shopping malls, train stations, offices and via roaming hit squads in key cities nationwide. During the 6 week campaign 1,295,500 bottles of Pepsi Raw were distributed with 82% of consumers saying they liked the taste and a further 75% claiming they would go on to buy it.^[8]

Ingredients

Bottles of Pepsi Raw

• Sparkling water.
• Cane sugar.
• Apple extract.
• Colour: plain caramel.
• Natural plant extracts (including natural caffeine and kola nut extract).
• citric, tartaric and lactic acids.
• Stabilizer: gum arabic.
• Thickener: xanthan gum.

Discontinuation

In September 2010, it was announced that Pepsi Raw was to be withdrawn from the British market.^[9] It was also discontinued in the Norwegian market in May 2011, having sold poorly.^[10]

See also

• List of defunct consumer brands