Gatorade is launching its first-ever water offering as the multi-billion-dollar PepsiCo brand works to aggressively expand its dominant presence in hydration.
Gatorade Water, which is expected to hit shelves in the first quarter of 2024, brings an electrolyte-infused beverage popular with athletes and exercise buffs to consumers who are looking for a healthier hydration offering throughout the day. The drink is electrolyte-infused and is alkaline with a pH of 7.5 or higher.
“People are looking for wellness solutions throughout the day, not just when they are active,” Emily Boido, senior director of marketing at Gatorade, said in an interview. “We're looking to provide a suite of solutions across our [Gatorade] portfolio that really hit whatever your individualized needs are, whether that's performance, wellness, somewhere in between.”
For now, Gatorade Water will not incorporate flavors as it focuses on consumers who don’t want them in their beverages. Gatorade also owns Propel, a line of flavored fitness waters with electrolytes, vitamins and antioxidants that meet this need.
While Gatorade has become a juggernaut brand withannual sales topping $6 billionandcontrolling more than 70% of the sports drink marketby focusing on hydration, the brand is looking for other ways to meet the needs of the consumer.
Gatoradeis市场领导者,但竞争对手ch asCoca-Cola’s BodyArmorare growing in popularity. This places the impetus on the decades-old PepsiCo brand to find ways to keep itself relevant with its core audience that turns to it for hydration while finding other ways to attract and retain other users.
The water is the latest in a series of new offerings from Gatorade. In 2022, it entered the energy drink category with itsfirst caffeinated beverage called Fast Twitch, and latergummies, its first dietary supplement. A year earlier, it launchedGatorlyte, a beverage with more electrolytes and less sugar than its traditional sports drinks that is aimed at athletes who want “rapid rehydration.”
Water is a $25 billion category, but there are more than 30 million “active consumers” who are not purchasingenhanced water that the new Gatorade extension aims to bring into the category, according to PepsiCo, citing IRI data.
The beverage brand is looking to Gatorade Water to bring these consumers into the category. It also fits with a shift by consumers toward low- andno-sugar hydration options that have driven the most growth in the sports drink category recently.
Gatorade Water joins an increasingly crowded premium water category, withNestlé’s Essentia,Coca-Cola’s BodyArmorand Smartwater brands, along with countless startups, selling similar products in the marketplace.
Boido said the trust consumers have in Gatorade, its widespread brand recognition and PepsiCo’s marketing heft will enable them to “get [Gatorade Water] this into the hands of consumers.”
