Gatorade is going organic

AP

One of America's favorite sports drinks is going organic. 

Gatorade has started selling an organic version of its classic drink — called G Organic — in some Kroger stores, and will soon be rolling it out to other retailers nationwide, Jennifer Kaplan reports at Bloomberg. 

G Organic comes in three flavors: strawberry, lemon, and mixed berry. 

The drink will be sold at a premium. The suggested retail price for G Organic is about $1.69 for a 16.9-ounce bottle, which is 50 cents more than for Gatorade Thirst Quencher, according to Bloomberg.

PepsiCo, which owns Gatorade, is introducing the new drink as consumer demand for organic goods soars, and at the same time, interest in artificial ingredients wanes. 

"We heard pretty loud through the locker rooms, through our work with nutritionists, that there is an interest and a desire among athletes to go organic," Brett O’Brien, Gatorade’s senior vice president and general manager, told Bloomberg.

Sales of organic food in the US more than tripled from $11 billion in 2004 to an estimated $35 billion in 2014, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

PepsiCo had to remove all artificial ingredients from the drink to have it certified organic.

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