Taco Bell, Pepsi to offer breakfast soft drinks
Beverages to contain Mountain Dew, juice
9/1/2012NEW YORK -- Rise and shine. It's time for breakfast soft drinks.
Taco Bell said Friday that it's adding Mtn Dew A.M -- a mix of Mountain Dew soda and Tropicana orange juice -- to its breakfast menu, which was rolled out this year at select locations.
Separately, industry tracker Beverage Digest said that PepsiCo Inc. next year plans to introduce a drink made with juice, Mountain Dew Kickstart.
Mtn Dew A.M. is mixed in restaurants and available only at Taco Bell. Kickstart would be a packaged drink sold by PepsiCo.
John Sicher, publisher of Beverage Digest, noted that giving consumers drink options for the morning is a way for companies to boost their performance. Overall, per capita soft drink consumption has been on the decline since hitting its peak in 1998.
Mountain Dew Kickstart would also be a way for PepsiCo to feed off the popularity of energy drinks, sales volume of which grew nearly 17 percent last year. Each of the top three brands -- Monster, Red Bull, and Rockstar -- posted double-digit gains, according to Beverage Digest.
A representative for Taco Bell wasn't immediately available to provide details on the orange-juice-to-soda ratio in Mtn Dew A.M. A PepsiCo spokesman declined to comment about Kickstart.
Taco Bell, which is owned by Louisville-based Yum Brands Inc., announced the addition in conjunction with its new A.M. Crunchwrap. A 16-ounce serving of Mtn Dew A.M. has 160 calories.