Awhile back I tweeted that Costco was now selling Pepsi Natural. I heard Pepsi was releasing a version of the soft drink using real sugar instead of HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). It was now available at Costco.
I was surprised at how Pepsi Natural turned out. It tasted very different than regular Pepsi. It was definitely less sweet and a lot lighter than regular Pepsi. I’m not even sure which one I liked more, regular Pepsi or Pepsi Natural. If I had to choose one, I would say regular Pepsi wins by a bit.
Later I read someone had tried and enjoyed Pepsi Throwback. Wasn’t sure what Pepsi Throwback was, but it turns out to be another variation of Pepsi with real sugar. At first I thought it was just 2 different names for the same product used in 2 different markets, but it turns out there is a real difference!
According to Lucrative Investing:
The difference between Pepsi Natural and Pepsi Throwback is Pepsi natural has natural caramel and kona nut extract, while Pepsi Throwback has all the regular ingredients but with sugar instead of HFCS. Pepsi Natural will also be sold in glass containers.
So whatever they removed from regular Pepsi in Pepsi Natural, has given it a lighter and less sweet taste. I’ll definitely need to try Pepsi Throwback one of these days.
Of course Mexican Coke still beats all.
From your description it sounds like Pepsi Natural and Pepsi Throwback are the same. You described both of them as:
Pepsi Natural – “using real sugar instead of HFCS”
Pepsi Throwback – “with sugar instead of HFCS”
They sound the same to me. I agree with you that it is “2 different names for the same product used in 2 different markets”. This is much like nanotechnology where the scientific community gave the old field of study a new name (i.e. nanotechnology) in order to make the field look more fresh. The government ate it up and poured millions of dollars into the new field.
No… Pepsi Natural isn’t the exact recipe and replaces several ingredients with natural caramel and kona nut extract. While the only difference between Pepsi regular and Pepsi Throwback is sugar vs HFCS. They both replace HFCS with sugar, but there’s additional changes in Natural.