You know PepsiCo and CocaCola keep a close eye on each other's products. So when CocaCola in collaboration with Cargill launched Truvia, we should have known that Pepsi wouldn't be far behind. And here it is, PepsiCo and Whole Earth Sweetener will soon welcome to the World, PureVia.

PepsiCo intends to market PureVia in beverages and foods and Whole Earth Sweetener Company will market the brand as a tabletop sweetener.

The two companies are partnering to introduce a breakthrough, zero-calorie, all-natural sweetener from the stevia plant. It's called PureVia and will debut in a new nutritionally enhanced PepsiCo beverage called "SoBe Life," to be launched in Latin America, starting with Peru. PureVia tabletop sweetener will launch in the United States this fall before expanding into drink and food products around the world. PureVia will be available initially in three SoBe Life flavor blends: Tropical Pomegranate, Strawberry-Kiwi and Orange-Tangerine.

It will be available for purchase at food and grocery stores across the United States and at PureVia.com later this fall in 40-stick cartons. The active sweetener in PureVia is Reb A, an all-natural, purified component of the South American stevia plant - long known for its extraordinary sweetness. Stevia is approximately 200 times as sweet as sugar, and Reb A is the sweetest, purest part of the stevia leaf.

"What's unique about PureVia is that we've identified a way to extract the purest part of the stevia leaf to reveal the cleanest and most consistent taste" said Paul Block, chief executive officer of Merisant and Whole Earth Sweetener Company - which is exactly what CocaCola said about Truvia.