India’s pride and Pepsi’s prized possession, COO Indira Nooyi is on a drive to give PepsiCo’s image a turnaround. From being a predominantly junk food producing company, Indira is piloting the company towards health foods.
Mountain Dew, which has been recently test launched in some major cities across India, heralds the change that Indira has set out to achieve. It is not a nutritional beverage or a health drink. However, it tastes like one and is refreshingly different.
The Packaging
Mountain Dew is available in 500 ml pet bottles, 330 ml cans and 200 ml glass bottles. The drink in the 200 ml bottled form is packaged in a shapely and attractive dark green bottle which bears resemblance to a small beer bottle. The bottle design will surely attract more consumers if the drink is displayed prominently at retail outlets. Kudos to the Pepsi product design lab.
The Taste
Mountain Dew is a mild lime flavoured soda. Unlike Sprite or 7 UP, Mountain Dew does not make you a bundle of gas after consumption. Instead of strong aerated burps, Mountain Dew leaves you with a sweet taste in the mouth. It tastes sweet but not sugary...the combination of soda, sugar and lime flavour blends quite well. Some people may find it too mild, but maybe that’s because they are used to consuming gallons of Sprite, 7 UP or Extra Strong Beer. Mountain Dew also contains a generous dose of caffeine, which is probably the secret of its surprisingly mild but refreshing taste. However, caffeine may put off some people who are ’really’ health conscious. (Point to be noted Ms. Indira Nooyi)
The Verdict
There isn’t much for the verdict part. However, this is surely not a health drink, but appears and tastes like one. It is different because it does not taste like the usual soft drink. It is mild, sweet and refreshing which makes it easy to gulp, quench your thirst and move on. It does not have a lingering after taste, which was a plus for me. Moreover, the best part about Mountain Dew is that despite being a aerated drink...it does not leave you burping all over the place.
Cheers!!