Back when I was growing up on my grandparents’ farm out on the prairie, whenever I was exhausted from a long day of playing professional sports I simply went to the Gatorade well and pulled up a bucketful of natural Gatorade. Nothing like it! Straight from the earth! That’s not true, but there was a “natural” line of Gatorade that PepsiCo has now decided just isn’t working.

Apparently Pepsi had marketed the natural line as a drink that does everything regular Gatorade is supposed to do, but using ingredients like sea salt. You might not have seen Gatorade Naturals on your grocery store’s shelves, however, as it was released in limited distribution at certain Whole Foods and Kroger stores, reports the Associated Press.

Pepsi says in a statement that through “engagement with athletes on their fueling needs, we found that Gatorade Naturals and G2 Naturals did not resonate with this core consumer.”

While consumers have been getting into the whole natural foods thing in recent years, most people probably don’t quite look for natural ingredients in a sports beverage that traditionally comes in colors that light up the neon dreams of acid users.

It’s also not an easy thing to just slap the word “natural” on a product, as Pepsi discovered with its Naked Juice drinks, which a lawsuit said contained a synthetic fiber.

Pepsi wants to make sure you know that the Gatorade Naturals line wasn’t smacked with any lawsuits. It just isn’t popular enough with the cool kids.

PepsiCo discontinues ‘natural’ Gatorade [Associated Press]

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