Mountain Dew launches new blue, raspberry-citrus flavor soft drink

PURCHASE, N.Y. PepsiCo has announced the official launch of Mountain Dew Voltage, a blue-colored, raspberry-citrus flavored soft drink that started to hit retail shelves in June, following an online campaign and consumer-guided selection process.

At Mountain Dew’s DewMocracy.com Web site, which was launched last October, the company invited consumers to vote for the most desirable of three limited-release Mountain Dew flavors. Bright blue Voltage, which also contains ginseng, beat SuperNova [strawberry-melon flavor and ginseng] and Revolution [wild berry fruit and ginseng]. The site has had more than 1.5 million unique visitors since the start of the campaign, sources said.

According to a report from Beverage Digest, Mountain Dew is currently the fourth out of ten major soft drinks selling in the United States, holding about 7.5 percent of the market. Mountain Dew’s volume sales were down about 2.1 percent for the first half of 2008. However, Diet Mountain Dew, which holds about 2.3 percent of the market, was the only soft drink to see volume sales increase [2.4 percent] during the same period, the report said.