Pepsi Raw

Region

United Kingdom

Associated With

Britvic - UK launch and marketing

Defining Feature

Lightly sparkling premium cola marketed as a mixer

Status

Discontinued - UK withdrawal decision reported in September 2010

Overview

Pepsi Raw was a lightly sparkling premium adult cola launched in selected UK licensed outlets in 2008.

Britvic promoted it as a mixer made with ingredients from natural sources, without artificial colours, preservatives, flavourings or sweeteners. A November 2008 product announcement described 300 ml bottles at Waitrose, Harrods and Harvey Nichols, plus plans for further cans and multipacks.

Britvic’s decision to withdraw Raw from the UK was reported in September 2010; the exact withdrawal and final sell-through dates remain unknown.

Why It Mattered

Pepsi Raw represented an attempt to reposition cola as a premium adult drink rather than an everyday soft drink. Its lightly sparkling formula, natural-source ingredient claims and marketing as a spirits mixer placed it closer to the emerging market for sophisticated bar drinks.

Despite extensive promotion through nightlife events, fashion publications and digital campaigns, its UK run was short-lived. The withdrawal illustrates the difficulty of establishing a premium alternative within a familiar mass-market category, although the available evidence does not establish precisely why Britvic ended the product.

Launch and Overseas Availability

• Britvic dated Pepsi Raw’s launch in selected UK licensed outlets to February 2008; the report did not give an exact day.
• Pepsi Raw launched in Norway in August 2010, with nationwide grocery distribution announced for September.
• By 18 February 2011, 7-Eleven Australia was advertising Pepsi Raw. This confirms retail availability by that date, not the exact launch day.
• The September 2010 withdrawal described in this record concerns the UK market, not worldwide discontinuation.

Retail Packs and Plans

• A product announcement dated 3 November 2008 said 300 ml glass bottles were available through Waitrose, Harrods and Harvey Nichols.
• The same announcement described 250 ml cans and planned 4 × 250 ml, 4 × 300 ml and 8 × 150 ml packs, with intended early-2009 timing; it does not confirm that every format reached shops.
• Chris Osborne’s photograph dated 15 July 2009 shows Pepsi Raw cans marked 150 ml stacked inside a small open refrigerator.

Promotion and Withdrawal Record

• Britvic presented Raw as value-driving cola innovation while reporting weakness in licensed on-premise trading and promotion-led competition in take-home cola.
• Britvic said launch support included targeted print and digital advertising, public relations activity and Pepsi Raw Ambassadors.
• Background in the G-Star v PepsiCo judgment records a Pepsi Raw promotional website, RAW live parties and adverts in the English editions of VICE and GQ.
• A report published on 8 September 2010 quoted Britvic saying it had decided to withdraw Raw from the UK; that date is not the exact withdrawal or final sell-through date.

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