Coke Zero to be phased out from August 1

COCA-Cola has confirmed Coke Zero will be phased out for good this year, but the company expects us to switch to something else.

Coca-Cola No Sugar will replace Coke Zero from August 1.

COKE Zero will be phased out from August 1 despite resistance from Australians to making the switch to the latest sugarless product.

Coca-Cola Australia marketing director Lucie Austin confirmed today that Coke Zero would be replaced by Coke No Sugar, and that Australians had embraced the new drink.

While Coke No Sugar launched in Australia in June 2017, shoppers were slow to switch over from Coke Zero.

Earlier this year Woolworths told news.com.au it wanted to continue stocking Coke Zero “due to customer demand”.

But it seems Australians have finally accepted Coke No Sugar, which has been developed to taste more like Coca-Cola Classic but without the sugar.

“It is no surprise that people are preferring it over Coke Zero — just as we have seen where we have launched this new recipe around the world,” Ms Austin said in a statement.

Ms Austin said Coke No Sugar had eclipsed expectations since it launched in Australia in June last year.

“We can reveal that close to 3.5 million Australians have enjoyed a Coke No Sugar since launch and many of them are now regular drinkers,” Ms Austin said.

“We are also seeing that the rapid growth of Coke No Sugar is helping to expand the low and no sugar drinks category overall.”

The phase out of Coke Zero will continue throughout August and is due to be complete by September.

The launch of Coke No Sugar is part of Coca-Cola’s commitment to reducing sugar, with the company recently signing up to an industry-wide pledge to reduce sugar by 20 per cent across its portfolio of sales by 2025.