Powerade is a sports drink manufactured and marketed by The Coca-Cola Company. Its primary competitor is PepsiCo's Gatorade brands. As of December 2010, Powerade has grown to take 21.7 percent of the United States market in the sports drink category, compared to Gatorade's 77.2 percent. In 2009, Powerade was relaunched as Powerade ION4, a formulation that contains four key electrolytes in the same ratio that is typically lost in sweat. PepsiCo sued The Coca-Cola Company, after ads were released claiming that Gatorade was an incomplete sports drink, since it only contained two of the four key electrolytes. The presiding judge ruled in favor of Coca-Cola, for a number of reasons: the ads were no longer running, Gatorade had made similar claims about their Endurance line, and Pepsi failed to show any harm or damage caused by the ads, which were only designed to run for sixty days.
History
In 1988, Powerade became the official sports drink of the Olympics, alongside Aquarius, another sports drink made by Coca-Cola. It is a rival of another sports drink, Gatorade. In July 2001, The Coca-Cola Company launched a new formula for Powerade including vitamins B3, B6 and B12, which play a role in energy metabolism.
In July 2002, The Coca-Cola Company updated the bottles of the standard Powerade (previous logo styling) to a new sport-grip bottle.
In 2002, The Coca-Cola Company introduced Powerade Option to the United States, in response to Gatorade's popular Propel. Option is a "low Calorie sports drink" that is colorless and sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium, to provide sugar-conscious consumers with another rehydration choice. Powerade Option took 36% of the Fitness Water category behind Propel's 42%.
In June 2007, The Coca-Cola Company bought Glacéau, owner of brands such as VitaminWater and SmartWater, for $4.1 billion, a price tag that signaled the company’s seriousness in pursuing growth of non-carbonated beverages. Since then, the company has also given its Glacéau management team control of its Powerade sports drink brand.
In 2008, Powerade Zero, a zero-calorie sports drink with electrolytes and no carbohydrates was released. Powerade Option was subsequently discontinued.
Competition
Powerade's main competition is Gatorade marketed by the Quaker Oats Company, a division of PepsiCo. Gatorade, which was branded at the University of Florida in 1965, was the first commercially available sports drink in the United States. It now holds a commanding share of the market. As of 2011, Gatorade held a 70 percent market share to Powerade's 28.5 percent.
All Sport is a competitor marketed by All Sport, Inc and distributed by the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. All Sport was marketed by PepsiCo until 2001, when Gatorade's maker, the Quaker Oats Company was acquired by PepsiCo. All Sport was sold to the Monarch Beverage Company soon after. It was subsequently purchased by Gary Smith, the Chairman & CEO of All Sport, Inc. based in Austin, Texas.
Outside the United States the Lucozade energy drink (manufactured since 1927 by the pharmaceutical company now known as GlaxoSmithKline) competes with Gatorade. Lucozade's formulation differs in that it uses primarily glucose and contains caffeine. The more direct competitor to Gatorade and Powerade is Lucozade Sport.
Sponsorships
- Powerade is the official sports drink of the Australian rugby league team, the Australian, New Zealand, and Ireland rugby union teams, PGA Tour, NASCAR, NHRA, NCAA, the U.S. Olympic Team (excluding U.S.A. Basketball and U.S. Soccer, which have deals with Gatorade) and many other national Olympic federations, The Football League and many other soccer leagues and teams around the world, FIFA, such as Independiente de Avellaneda, O'Higgins or Club Atlético River Plate and the IOC in no small part due to their overall contracts with Coca-Cola. Various other competitions also have sponsorship deals with the brand, although Gatorade historically has secured the lion's share of sponsorships. The drink is also Sponsor of the Honduran Soccer Team C.D. Olimpia.
- Powerade is the Official Hydration Partner of Melbourne Storm.
- The brand is also the exclusive beverage sponsor of the Hoops in the Sun basketball summer league, based out at Orchard Beach in the Bronx, New York. It is the only summer basketball league to be sponsored by the brand.
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- Water
- High fructose corn syrup
- Salt
- Potassium citrate
- Phenylalanine
- Sucralose
- Sodium Citrate
- Malic acid
- Potassium phosphate
- Vitamin B6
- Vitamin B2
Note: Standard 8 ounce servings meet the FDA definition of 'low sodium' and have less sodium than a glass of chocolate milk.
Substitutions and differences
Ingredients may vary from flavor to flavor and by country with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) not used in Australia and other regions where sucrose is substituted.
Flavors
Currently, there are nine flavors of Powerade available in the United States:
- Mountain Berry Blast (Initially titled Mountain Blast)
- Orange
- Fruit Punch
- Grape
- Lemon Lime
- Melon
- White Cherry (Initially titled Arctic Shatter)
- Strawberry Lemonade
- Tropical Mango
In addition, there are six flavors of Powerade Zero, a zero calorie version of Powerade:
- Mixed Berry
- Grape
- Lemon Lime
- Orange
- Fruit Punch
- Strawberry
Discontinued flavors
Flavors that were previously available in the United States, but have been discontinued:
- Cherry Apple
- Powerade Play (a reduced calorie version targeted towards children) Mixed Berry, Fruit Punch, Orange, and Grape flavors in 12 ounce bottles.
United Kingdom flavours
- Berry & Tropical
- Cherry
- Orange
- Lime
- Zero Berry & Tropical
- Zero red fruits
- Energy- Berry
- Energy- Orange
Australian flavors
- Berry Ice
- Mountain Blast
- Lemon Lime
- Blackcurrant
- Gold Rush
- White Cherry
- Fuel+ Berry Ice
- Fuel+ Mountain Blast
- Zero Berry Ice
- Zero Mountain Blast
- Zero Lemon Lime
South Korea flavors
- Mountain Blast
- Vita Lemon
- Energy Punch
- Aqua Powerplus
- Powerade Recover
Discontinued Flavors
- Aqua Grapefruits
- Tidal Burst
- Guus Hiddink
- Gold Fever
Iceland flavors
- Mountain Blast
- Orange
- Citrus Charge
- Snow Storm
Germany flavors
- Mountain Blast
- Orange
- Wild Cherry
Denmark flavors
- Mountain Blast
- Orange
France flavors
- Ice Storm
- Orange
- Cherry
- Lemon
- Zero Ice Storm
- Zero Red Fruits
- Blue Raspberry
- Power Blast (fruit punch)
Spain flavors
- Ice Storm
- Blood Orange
- Citrus Charge
Colombia flavors
- Mandarin Orange
- Mountain Blast
- Tropical Fruits
Switzerland flavors
- Mountain Blast
- Orange
- Mango Green
- Zero Berry & Tropical
Sweden flavors
- Mountain Blast
- Orange
- Citrus/Lime
Finland flavors
- Berry
- Orange
Venezuela flavors
- Mountain Blast
- Tropical Fruits
- Mandarin
Norway flavors
- Mountain Blast
- Orange
- Lemon
South Africa flavors
- Jagged Ice
- Tangerine
- Island Burst
- Mountain Blast
- Orange
- Concentrated Tangerine
- Concentrated Jagged Ice
- Concentrated Mountain Blast
- Concentrated Orange
New Zealand flavors
- Mountain Blast
- Berry Ice
- Lemon Lime
- Gold Burst
- Silver Charge
- Fever Pitch
- Blackcurrant
- Black
Turkey flavors
- Ice Blast (Karışık Meyve)
- Sun Rush (Mango ve Portakal)
- Citrus Charge (Limon ve Portakal)
Russia flavors
- Citrus Charge (Lemon Lime)
- Gold (Orange)
- Ice Storm (Blue)
- Cherry (Red)
- Snow Storm (White Cherry)
- Pink Lemonade
Criticism
Like its main competitor, Gatorade, Powerade is made with sugar, syrups and salt. One Powerade ad campaign saying that Powerade ION4 is superior to Gatorade has been accused of being deceptive and false by Pepsi, the parent owner of Gatorade. The courts ruled in favor of Powerade as of August 2009. However, unlike Gatorade, Powerade's ingredients list High Fructose Corn Syrup as a main ingredient.
References
External links
- Powerade Official Website
- Powerade Australia
- Powerade Mexico
- Powerade TV Website
- Olympians strip down as they prepare to make history in Beijing Photos by award-winning photographer Nadav Kander for Powerade advertising campaign, The Daily Mail
