Coca-Cola axes its newest 'permanent' flavour from store shelves

Coca-Cola is discontinuing the production of its new Spiced flavour just six months after the soda hit shelves in the United States, marking the end of a disappointing attempt to attract younger drinkers.

The company said in a statement that Coca-Cola is "always looking at what our customers like and adjusting" its flavours. "As part of this strategy, we're planning to phase out Coca-Cola Spiced to introduce an exciting new flavour in 2025," a spokesperson said.

The short lifespan of Spiced is surprising, because the company promoted it as a permanent flavour. Coca-Cola didn't provide a specific reason for axing Spiced, although lack of awareness of the new offering and confusion about the flavour (it wasn't actually spicy) probably contributed to lacklustre sales.

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Coca-Cola introduced Spiced to the United States in February with a splashy ad campaign. The beverage blended the traditional Coke flavour with raspberry notes.

Spiced was created to attract Gen-Z drinkers, who have a thirst for punchier flavours, and soda giants have ceded some of their flavor innovation to pluckier upstarts, like Olipop and Poppi.

For the past several years, Coca-Cola has been routinely updating its lineup with limited-time offerings, such as a new Oreo-flavour soda. It has also released some ambiguously flavoured limited-time Cokes, including 'Dreamworld,' 'Starlight' and 'Byte' flavoured Coca-Cola. It also partnered with DJ Marshmello on a flavour that did not taste like marshmallow.

Those beverages were part of its experimental Creations line, which was aimed at attracting young drinkers. Duane Sanford, editor of Beverage Digest, told CNN that Spiced "might have been lost in the shuffle" of those limited time offerings.

But Coca-Cola intended Spiced to become a permanent addition to its lineup because its research found that an "increase in consumer willingness to try a spiced beverage" and that raspberry was selected more than five million times on its Freestyle drink machines in 2022, which the company "often uses for inspiration" for new flavours, according to Sue Lynne Cha, the company's vice president of marketing for North America.

"Consumers are looking for more bold flavors and more complex flavor profiles," Cha previously told CNN. "That's a trend we started to see in food but also in beverage, and we thought that was a unique space for us to play in."

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Coca-Cola does not break out sales of individual Coke flavours, and the drink wasn't mentioned in Coke's most recent earnings call. Coke's second-quarter net revenue rose 2.9 per cent but volumes of the company's North American sales, where Spiced was sold, slumped one per cent.

Spiced isn't the only flavour to get cut: On social media, the company confirmed it was ending production of Cherry Vanilla, which launched in 2020, and Diet Coke with Splenda. It's part of a broader culling of its beverage portfolio that started four years ago and meant the end for 200 drinks, including Tab, AHA Sparkling Water and Odwalla

Drinkers are shifting their preferences away from sugary sodas and to sparkling waters and hydration beverages. In response, the company is growing its Topo Chico water line and expanding its BodyArmor brand.

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