当您走过汽水区时，您可能会注意到“Diet”这个词比以前少了很多。
那是因为一些无糖汽水正在消失——或者至少，包装已经消失了。相反，您会在新品牌下找到这些饮料：零糖。
“零糖”已经取代了许多无热量软饮料的“饮食”。由 Keurig Dr Pepper 制造的 Canada Dry 和 Schweppes 姜汁汽水、7Up、A&W 和 Sunkist 现在将他们的减肥饮料标记为“零糖”。 （一个例外是同名的 Dr Pepper 品牌，除了不同的零糖版本外，它仍将采用“减肥”包装。）
改革的原因：“饮食”这个词已经过时了——尤其是对于千禧一代和 Z 世代。
“年轻人就是不喜欢‘饮食'这个词，”百事可乐北美公司首席营销官格雷格·莱昂斯在 12 月的饮料文摘未来智能会议上说。百事可乐在 2016 年将“Pepsi Max”更名为“百事零糖”，并在过去几年一直在投资其零糖产品。
“如今，Z 世代不想节食，”他说，并补充说公司“将继续创新并支持该业务。”
但是对饮食这个词的厌恶并不意味着对无热量饮料的厌恶。自 1960 年代首次成为主流以来，包括无糖和零卡路里品牌饮料在内的无糖汽水部分已经迅速膨胀。根据市场研究公司 Mintel 的数据，2020 年美国零售无糖碳酸软饮料市场达到 112 亿美元。
该细分市场仍远小于普通碳酸软饮料市场，后者在 2020 年为 282 亿美元，但增长速度要快得多。与 2018 年相比，无糖汽水销售额增长了约 19.5%，而同期普通汽水的销售额仅为 8.4%，这使其成为寻求增长的汽水制造商的一个有吸引力的细分市场。
对节食概念的态度不断变化意味着汽水制造商必须不再强调饮食品牌，因为他们正在大力推行零糖产品——即使像 Keurig Dr Pepper 拥有的那些品牌一样，他们销售的产品完全相同喝。
这种策略可以帮助汽水制造商吸引更多消费者，尤其是年轻消费者。如果该行业想要发展汽水市场，就需要这些客户。
'Diet' soda is disappearing from store shelves
As you make your way through the soda aisle, you may notice a lot less of the word "diet" than you used to.
That's because some diet sodas are disappearing — or at least, that packaging is gone. Instead you'll find those beverages under their new branding: zero sugar.
"Zero sugar" has replaced "diet" for many no-calorie soft drinks. Canada Dry and Schweppes ginger ales, 7Up, A&W and Sunkist, made by Keurig Dr Pepper, now label their diet drinks "zero sugar." (One exception is the namesake Dr Pepper brand, which will still come in "diet" packaging in addition to a different zero sugar version.)
The reason for the overhaul: The word "diet" has fallen out of fashion — especially for Millennials and Gen Z-ers.
"Younger people just don't like the word 'diet," said Greg Lyons, chief marketing officer at PepsiCo Beverages North America, during the Beverage Digest Future Smarts conference in December. Pepsi rebranded "Pepsi Max" as "Pepsi Zero Sugar" in 2016 and has been investing in its zero-sugar offerings over the past few year.
"No Gen Z wants to be on a diet these days," he said, adding that the company is "going to continue to innovate and support that business."
But distaste for the word diet doesn't signal an aversion to no-calorie beverages. The diet soda segment, which includes diet and zero-calorie branded drinks, has ballooned since it first hit the mainstream in the 1960s. In 2020, the US retail diet carbonated soft drink market hit $11.2 billion, according to Mintel, a market research company.
The segment is still far smaller than the market for regular carbonated soft drinks, which was $28.2 billion in 2020, but it's growing much more quickly. Diet soda sales are up about 19.5% from 2018, compared to just 8.4% for regular soda in the same period, making it an attractive segment for soda makers seeking growth.
Evolving attitudes toward dieting as a concept mean soda makers have to de-emphasize diet branding as they steam ahead with zero-sugar offerings — even when, as in the case of those brands owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, they're selling the same exact drink.
The tactic could help soda makers bring more consumers, especially younger ones, into the fold. The industry needs those customers if it wants to grow the soda market.
