Coca-Cola Introduces Drink To Compete With GatorAde

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) _ Coca-Cola said Friday it will begin selling a noncarbonated sports drink next month designed to compete with GatorAde and similar products.

PowerAde will go on shelves first in Birmingham; Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Augusta and Savannah, Ga. It will be available in bottles of 20, 32 and 64 ounces, plus cans for vending machines.

Luke Cranford, president of Coca-Cola’s central region, said sports drinks are ″one of the few soft drink areas Coca-Cola has not been involved in until now.″

Pierre U. Ferrari, senior vice president of Coca-Cola USA, said PowerAde has been chosen as the official drink of the 1992 summer Olympic games in Barcelona, Spain, and of the World League of American Football, which has a team in Birmingham.

The drink is designed to replace body fluids lost during physical exertion. It comes in lemon-line, orange and fruit punch flavors.

The drink will be introduced to other parts of the country later.