Variants Fresca 1 | Introduced 1966 | |
 | ||
Flavor Black Cherry, Cherry Citrus, Citrus Lime, Grapefruit, Grapefruit Mint, Lemon, Lime and Peach | ||
Fresca is a diet lime and grapefruit citrus soft drink made by The Coca-Cola Company. Borrowing the word Fresca (meaning "fresh") from Spanish, it was first introduced in the United States in 1966.
Contents
History
Since introduction in 1966, Fresca has been marketed in the United States as a calorie-free, lime and grapefruit-flavored soft drink. Fresca has undergone several major ingredient changes since its introduction. It was originally sweetened with cyclamates, which were banned by the FDA in 1969, and replaced with saccharin. That was replaced by NutraSweet-brand aspartame. Around the time of the 2005 redesign, acesulfame potassium was added as a secondary sweetener.
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, who loved the beverage, had a soda fountain containing Fresca installed in the Oval Office.
Versions
In Latin America, Coca-Cola markets a sugar sweetened version of Fresca. In 1997, The Coca-Cola Company responded to requests for this product from immigrant communities by launching it throughout the U.S. as Citra. This was a success but is instead sold as the Citrus flavor in Coca-Cola's Fanta line in areas with large Hispanic populations. In Colombia and Argentina sweetened Fresca is called Quatro and marketed using Fresca's colors and logos.
Fresca was made available in South Africa during the early 1990s with a series of colorful ads featuring Hakeem Kae-Kazim with the slogan, "Nothing tastes like Fresca." The soft drink developed a cult following but sales were discontinued.
Fresca packaging has been redesigned several times, although advertising continues to emphasize sophistication. In 2005, Coca-Cola gave Fresca a more contemporary look, Fresca's first makeover since 1995. During this redesign, two new flavors were introduced (Sparkling Peach Citrus and Sparkling Black Cherry Citrus) and the original grapefruit flavor was renamed Sparkling Citrus. Later, "Sparkling" was dropped and the original flavor was renamed Original Citrus. Several additional flavors have been added to the line-up since 2005.
U.S. Flavors
According to Coca-Cola, the following flavors of Fresca are marketed today:
Availability
Ingredients
North America (United States, Canada):
North America (Mexico):