Reed's CEO sees strong '07, helped by diet sodas

Beverage and candy maker Reed's Inc. plans to launch diet versions of its Virgil's root beer and cream sodas on April 15, which should help the company increase its 2007 sales by 20 percent to 40 percent, its chief executive said Tuesday.

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Reed's, which also makes ginger candies and brewed ginger ales, had sales of $11 million in 2006, which was up 11 percent, Chief Executive Christopher Reed said in an interview.

Reed said the company, which has recently applied to list its shares on Nasdaq, will launch diet versions of Virgil's Cream Soda, Black Cherry Cream Soda and Root Beer sweetened with Splenda for sale at mainstream supermarkets and warehouse clubs such as Costco Wholesale Corp. .

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For retailers such as Whole Foods Market Inc. and Wild Oats Markets Inc. , which prefer to stock products made without chemicals, Reed said the company is investigating natural sweetener alternatives.

Some companies already use natural sweeteners in their products for people on low-carbohydrate diets or with diabetes. The natural sweeteners, including stevia, xylitol, and erythritol, are alternatives to artificial sweeteners such as aspartame or sucralose.