“An online protest over the use of palm oil by Frito-Lay is threatening to undermine the launch of a new reduced-calorie cola by its sister brand, Pepsi, which uses no palm oil.
PepsiCo Inc., the parent company of both Plano-based Frito-Lay and Pepsi, launched its new Stevia-sweetened cola, called Pepsi True, exclusively on Amazon.com Oct. 13.
PepsiCo has a lot riding on the product launch, which followed a substantial amount of research and testing. PepsiCo is among the major soft drink players scrambling to find a natural, low-calorie sweetener to help reverse sagging soft drink sales.
Earlier this week, a campaign organized by the groups Rainforest Action Network and SumOfUs led to more than 3,000 negative customer reviews being posted on the Pepsi True page on Amazon.com.”