Powerade Prices

The Coca-Cola Company is among the titans of the food and beverage industry with a worldwide presence rivalled only by PepsiCo.  Among its beverages is Powerade, a sports drink formulated to rehydrate the body after strenuous physical exercise. The rehydration quality makes it a popular drink among professional and amateur athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and other people engaged in physical activities.

The name obviously comes from the combination of two words – “power” and “ade” as a reference to lemonade. This also applies to Gatorade, the competing sports drink currently manufactured by PepsiCo and created for the University of Florida’s football team, The Gators.

Below are the latest Powerade prices.

Overview

The Coca-Cola Company introduced Powerade in 1988 as the sports drink in competition with PepsiCo’s Gatorade. As part of its aggressive marketing program, it became the Olympics’ official sports drink in the same year, a coup by any measure.

In July 2001, a new formula was released, said formula of which contained vitamins B3, B6 and B12. These vitamins are common additions to energy drinks because these have been proven essential in efficient energy metabolism.  But Powerade itself isn’t marketed as an energy drink but a sports drink because of its rehydrating property.

In July 2002, a new version of the Powerade bottle was released. In it, the bottle featured a sports-like grip for a more ergonomic handling. The redesigned made it possible to grip the bottle well even when walking or running, as well as in placing the bottle inside a sports-style container.

In the same year, Powerade Option was introduced in the United States market, a move made in response to Gatorade’s Propel. It was marketed as a low-calorie sports drink with high fructose corn syrup, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose as the sweeteners, as well as being colorless. It performed well in the market with a 35% market share in the fitness water niche.

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In 2007, the company released Powerade Zero, a sports drinks containing electrolytes for rehydration. It was named “Zero” because it had zero sugar, carbohydrates and calories without losing its rehydration quality. It must be emphasized that the product has been discontinued.

Today, the control over the Powerade brand rests in the hands of Glacéau, which also owns the SmartWater and VitaminWater brands.  Glacéau is a division of The Coca-Cola Company when the latter acquired it in June 2009 as part of its thrust to become the leader in the non-carbonated drinks segment.

Drink Profile

In the United States, the original Powerade has the following ingredients based on the product label and press releases.

• Water
• Salt
• High fructose corn syrup
• Phenylalanine
• Potassium citrate
• Sucralose
• Sodium citrate
• Potassium phosphate
• Malic acid
• Vitamin B2
• Vitamin B6

The standard Powerade 8-ounce bottle comply with the definition of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding “low sodium” offerings. In fact, it has a lower sodium content than a glass of chocolate milk.

The type of sweeteners used also affect the overall taste of the sports drink. In Australia, for example, high fructose corn syrup isn’t used in beverages – sucrose is instead used as a sweetening agent.

The Powerade lineup consists of several flavors with most of them being inspired by fruits including citrus fruits. The following flavors are available in the United States but may not be available in other countries and territories where The Coca-Cola Company and its licensees distribute it.

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• Mountain Berry Blast
• Orange (orange flavor)
• Fruit Punch (red color)
• Grape (grape flavor with purple color)
• Lemon Lime (citrus flavor with yellow color)
• Melon (green color)
• White Cherry (colorless with cherry flavor)
• Strawberry Lemonade (pink color with a combo of fruit and citrus flavors)

Other flavors include Tropical Mango, Lemonade, Watermelon Strawberry Wave, Citrus Passionfruit, Kiwi Pineapple, and Blue Raspberry Cherry. As can be concluded, the names are evocative of the flavors that can be expected, such as the Tropical Mango with an underlying mango flavor.

Powerade Zero also has its own flavors. These are Mixed Berry, Grape, Orange, Fruit Punch, and Strawberry.

Interesting Facts

During its nearly 3o-year run and counting, Powerade has been through its share of ups and downs.  The Coca-Cola Company, for one thing, has discontinued several flavors due to low performance, such as Orange Tangerine, Jagged Ice, Black Cherry Lime, and Infrared Freeze.

A few of the discontinued flavors were made in conjunction with celebrities, too. These included Flagva 23 Sour Berry, a red-colored Powerade created in cooperation with John Cena, and Flava 23 Sour Melon, a green-colored Powerade associated with LeBron James. These drinks were obviously created to tap into the celebrity status of the world-famous professional wrestler and basketball player, respectively.

There was also a Matrix Reloaded Powerade, a green-colored drink released in 2003. It was obviously in homage to the hugely successful movie starring Keanu Reeves, but it was also re-released as Black Cherry Lime, a regular flavor.  Even children had their own version, the Powerade Play that contained lower calories, came in 12-ounce bottles, and came in Mixed Berry, Fruit Punch, Grape, and Orange flavors; it was also discontinued.

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Powerade is the official sports drinks of several sports organizations in numerous countries. The rugby teams of New Zealand, Ireland, and Australia consider it their official sports drinks, as is the case for most of the U.S. Olympic teams, NASCAR, PGA Tour, among others.