PURCHASE, N.Y. — PepsiCo, Inc. is set to roll out a new product under its Gatorade brand geared toward the athlete “off the field.”
In connection with the release of second-quarter financials, Ramon L. Laguarta, chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo, said the company plans to introduce Bolt24 later this summer.
“Bolt24 is a new platform for us,” Mr. Laguarta said. “It’s going to be a functional platform catering to the athlete off the field. I think the consumption would be off the field. We’re trying to give hydration to the athlete during the day with functional benefits that are all-natural. … Bolt24 is watermelon water plus sea salt. That’s how the consumer will get ... electrolytes. And then we’re adding some vitamins or antioxidants. And you will see more innovation coming under that platform. That will be off-the-field functionality for the core athlete.”
The product’s name was inspired by the need to keep athletes in shape 24 hours a day, the company said.
Bolt24 contains 80 calories and 100% of the daily value of vitamins A, C, B3, B5 and B6. The beverage contains no artificial sweeteners or flavors and will be available in three varieties: mixed berry, tropical mango and watermelon strawberry.
A key innovation for Gatorade has been Gatorade Zero, which was introduced last year and has no carbohydrates or sugars. The brand extension has allowed Gatorade to expand the consumer base to athletes who put a lot of emphasis on sugar and diminished the frequency they had been consuming the beverage to move into other opportunities.
“We’re seeing the incrementality for the category; we’re seeing the incrementality for the brand,” Mr. Laguarta said.
Another opportunity for PepsiCo in sports hydration is Propel, which has been growing at a double-digit rate for the past few years. Propel is geared toward what Mr. Laguarta described as “more casual exercisers.”
“We’re trying to give them a good combination of hydration with lower calories,” he said. “That’s working very well. Now we’re adding vitamins and some other positive functionality.”