Yoopya with Associated Press
Coca-Cola Co. is discontinuing its newest “permanent” flavor a little more than seven months after putting it on the market.
The beverage giant said Wednesday that Coca-Cola Spiced and Coca-Cola Spiced Zero Sugar will be phased out and replaced with a new flavor that will be introduced next year.
“We’re always looking at what our consumers like and adjusting our range of products,” the Atlanta-based company said in a statement.
Coca-Cola Spiced went on sale in the U.S. and Canada on Feb. 19. At the time, the company said it would be the first new permanent addition to its North American portfolio in three years.
Coca-Cola didn’t elaborate Wednesday on what went wrong, but it might have been the name. Coca-Cola Spiced doesn’t have much heat; it mostly tastes like raspberry.
Or it may have gone to market too quickly. Coca-Cola’s North American marketing chief Shakir Moin told The Associated Press in February that Coca-Cola Spiced was developed in just seven weeks. It usually takes a year for Coke to come up with a new beverage.
“Consumers are moving faster. The market is moving forward faster. We’ve got to be faster than the speed of the market,” Moin said.
Coke has been exploring ways to get younger drinkers excited about its signature cola. In 2022, it launched Coca-Cola Creations, a series of eight limited-edition Coke flavors in colorful cans and bottles. Hints of coconut, strawberry, watermelon and other flavors were added to the drinks.
Last month, it launched a limited-edition Oreo-flavored Coke with special black-and-white packaging.
Atlanta-based Coke is also leaning more heavily into alcoholic drinks. The company’s first U.S. alcoholic beverage, Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, came out in 2021. Earlier this month, Coke and Bacardi Limited announced an agreement to bring a premixed rum-and-Coke cocktail to Europe and Mexico next year.
Author:
DEE-ANN DURBIN | I cover the food and beverage industry.