unveiled their RETHINK campaign on 17 January targeting sugary drinks and their effect on the nation’s health. But while there is a lot of recent talk about this serious problem, The Better Beverage Company has long been working on a solution. Australian owned The Better Beverage Company knew that the unofficial ‘War on Sugary Drinks’ was coming and as such has, for the last ten years been developing a revolutionary line called 1CAL to bring about their own Rethink message within the beverage industry and more importantly, amongst consumers. “To begin with, we looked at why people kept going back to these drinks that were doing them so much harm,” says Better Beverages director John Lake. “We felt that the attraction to a sugary drink isn’t just based on taste, it’s an emotional one. So we worked closely with a highly regarded dietitian and nutritionist not just to ensure that we put into the drink what was good and left out what was bad, but also to look at why people were drinking them.” That dietitian/nutritionist, Julie Albrecht, brought to their attention that “large beverage companies have been marketing to us for so long that we actually feel emotional attachments to the image associated with these sugary beverages, regardless of the taste of the drinks.” Like most great ideas, 1CAL came from a problem/solution situation. One of the company’s beverage developers (who was a diabetes sufferer) found there was a very limited selection of sugar free drinks. So Better Beverages created 1CAL – a no sugar, stevia sweetened, lightly carbonated drink that contains only 1 calorie per 100ml. “We joke around the office that 1CAL thinks it’s a soft drink, that’s why we started developing our own ‘RETHINK SOFT DRINK’ campaign six months ago,” says The Better Beverage’s co-founder Rick Florence. “We wanted to create a drink that has the same emotional benefits of a soft drink but that also wasn’t detrimental towards your health. Because 1CAL also contains vitamins and electrolytes, it is in fact a healthy carbonated beverage!” But it hasn’t always been an easy task admits Lake, “Five years ago, no-one wanted to know about our sugar free approach to beverages. Obviously that’s changed dramatically and we’re now receiving a lot more positive supportfor what we’re trying to do.” It is hoped that drinks like 1CAL will begin to penetrate the beverage market and help combat the serious health issues associated with high sugar drinks. Says Lake, “This isn’t just about creating yet another beverage, it’s about creating a new culture in the drink industry – it’s about a total RETHINK.” 1CAL can be obtained here.
