Because they don't have quite enough products already, (forgive the slight tinge of sarcasm) PepsiCo is apparently unleashing yet another brand of "enhanced water" on the market. Tropicana Fruit Squeeze, a blend of water with a splash of fruit juice, is scheduled to be released next month according to BrandWeek.

I'm sure it's delicious and refreshing and all that, but really, do we need another flavored water? I can understand from a business perspective why they keep releasing new products, obviously people are buying them, but I really have to wonder who those people are. PepsiCo already has four similar products on the market: Aquafina Alive, Aquafina FlavorSplash, SoBe Lifewater, and Propel Fitness Water. Now, take into account the immensely high sales worldwide of their soda and juice products, not to mention their competitor's similar offerings, just how many beverages are people actually buying / drinking in a day?

Now don't get me wrong, I like a number of their products too, I just find it mind-boggling that there is really that much of a market for ALL these products. I'm going to ponder that while I go quench my thirst the old fashioned way - water from the tap.

While PepsiCo, along with its number one rival Coca-Cola, might be facing battles in India over the banning of its sodas, the company is relying on a slightly different segment of their business to fuel their overseas growth: potato chips.

They may seem trite here in the United States, but potato chips are easy to modify to local cultural cuisines. We may think Spicy Thai flavored Kettle Chips are exotic, but in the country of Thailand, Lay's, owned by PepsiCo, sells seaweed flavored potato chips. And its not just potato chips either, The seaweed flavor is on Doritos in Taiwan. Some of the other local flavors are:

• UK - Lamb and Mint flavor, Beef and Onion Flavor, Pickled Onion flavor, a puffed snack with Spicy Tandoori Masala flavor and Cool Yoghurt and Mint flavor
• India - The Chaat Street line reflects the flavors of street vendor snacks
• China - Cool Cucumber and Cool Lemon chips
• Brazil - Shrimp Cocktail flavor

The local flavors travel across boundaries, too. Lays "Mediterraneans," fried in olive oil with flavors like Feta cheese and Tomato and Basil, did well in South America. I just wish they'd sell some of those more interesting flavors here in the US.

The Indian state of Kerala has initiated a plan to ban Pepsi and Coke for having levels of pesticides above the permissible amount. The whole thing seems to be a campaign against the products, both of which are produced locally using the local water supply. Even Indian commentators are taking note and observing that perhaps the money that the Indian Center for Science and Environment (CSE) intends to spend fighting the cola companies would be better spent running "a campaign for clean water" and reducing the levels of pesticides in all instances.

According to the same source, the CSE's "conclusions were that Diet Pepsi contained 0.36 amounts of pesticide per parts per billion (ppb), as tested by the Central Food Laboratory in Kolkata, that Pepsi contained 0.09 and that this was below the limit prescribed for packaged water by the Ministry of Health."

Other sources verify that the levels found in the soft drinks were lower than the levels of pesticide found in tea and other food products, including eggs, apples, rice and milk. So why target Pepsi and Coke? The CSE says that they cannot compare apples - which are reported to have 30200 times the prescribed limit of pesticides, versus 28,040 times the limit in tea and only 24 times the limit for Pepsi - to sodas. But the companies make convenient scapegoats in a country that seems to have pollution issues in areas other than their sodas.

Three people were charged yesterday by federal prosecutors for stealing confidential information from the Coca-Cola Company's Atlanta Headquarters. Joya Williams, administrative assistant to a top executive, Ibrahim Dimson and Edmund Duhaney "were arrested on charges of wire fraud and unlawfully stealing and selling Coke trade secrets," federal prosecutors said. Specifically, they stole insider documents and a bottled sample of one of Coke's newest, unreleased products and were planning to sell them to Coke rival, PepsiCo.

Dimson contacted Pepsi via a letter, mailed in an official Coca-Cola envelope, and asked for more than $80,000 for the stolen documents and drink sample. Pepsi contacted Coke and the authorities were brought in. The investigation culminated when an undercover FBI agent offered to pay $1.5 million for other trade secrets from Coke.

Both Coke and Pepsi complied with and assisted the FBI and other authorities during their investigation. Coke says that it will be difficult to overcome this "breach of trust" from Williams, who "[rifled] through corporate files and [stuffed] documents and a new Coca-Cola product into a personal bag" - actions which were caught on the company surveillance videos - and that they will review its "review its information protection policies, procedures and practices."

Some of you may recall a post last month about a pending lawsuit filed against PepsiCo by Glaceau, makers of vitaminwater. Glaceau claimed that PepsiCo's new SoBe Life Water (left) too closely copied their own vitaminwater (right) in it's trade dress, which included the label, bottle and clear plastic cap. Last week, PepsiCo agreed to change the packaging of Life Water in a settlement reached in a New York federal court. The terms of the settlement remained confidential. Glaceau had also initially complained that the ingredients of Life Water too closely mimicked those in vitaminwater, but reports on the settlement haven't mentioned any changes aside from packaging. BevNET and Yahoo! have more.

Looking at the two bottles to the right, it comes as little surprise that the makers of Glaceau's vitaminwater (right) have filed a suit against PepsiCo for their new SoBe Lifewater (left). According to a recent article on BevNET, Glaceau claims that Pepsico's Lifewater copied their flavorings and ingredients, including a sweetener never before used in any PepsiCo product until now. The Washington Post has more about the dueling nutrient-infused waters.

[Photos: BevNET]