PepsiCo rarely sends out a press release to say its ending production of a soda or beverage flavor. Instead, it simply stops making it, and shares that information on its product locator website.
Usually, when you visit that site you see a few sodas or drinks tagged as “limited time left.” If you go to that website now, you will see that nine soda flavors and 12 sparkling water, Gatorade, and energy drink flavors have been quietly ended.
When PepsiCo shares on its website that an item has “limited time left,” it means that the company has stopped manufacturing it, but it may still be shipping it to stores from its warehouses. It's also possible that retailers may have stock left.
Image source: PepsiCo
Pepsi is getting rid of these Mtn Dew flavors:
- Mtn Dew Caffeine Free
- Mtn Dew White Out
- Mtn Dew Kickstart: Mango Lime
- Mtn Dew Kickstart: Original Dew
- Mtn Dew Kickstart: Blueberry Pomegranate
- Mtn Dew Major Melon
- Mtn Dew Zero Sugar Major Melon
- Mtn Dew Spark
- Mtn Dew Zero Sugar Spark
PepsiCo is also getting rid of these beverages
- Lemon Bubly
- Apple Bubly
- Cranberry Bubly
- Bubly Bounce Citrus Cherry
- Bubly Bounce Mango Passion Fruit
- Bubly Bounce Triple Berry
- Gatorade Fit : Cherry Lime
- Gatorde Fit: Tangerine Orange
- Gatorade Zero with Protein Grape
- Gatorade Zero with Protein Fruit Punch
- Gatorade Zero with Protein Cool Blue
- Gatorade Zero with Protein Glacier Cherry
Pepsi is working on better colas
PepsiCo has not given up on beverages. It's simply narrowing its focus and cutting flavors that haven't sold well. CEO Ramon Luis Laguarta explained the company's strategy during its second-quarter earnings call.
“When it comes to beverages, the focus has been in improving colas. And colas is a good success for us. We've been focusing on the no-sugar colas, we've been focusing on food and Pepsi, and we've been focusing on the taste challenge. And those three elements have driven share — positive share performance for Pepsi, which is something we feel very good about. Not only in the U.S. but globally,” he added.
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And, just because Gatorade has lost some market share and has eliminated some flavors does not mean it's not a priority for the company.
“Now the other big focus for us has been sports to make sure that Gatorade recover share in sports, and that's the first half of the year, we're gaining share. And then adding some new platforms to the functional hydration with Propel being a great success if you think about the last few years and how that brand continues to develop,” he added.
These are the top-selling sodas in the U.S. (2024)
- Coca-Cola Classic:
- Dr Pepper
- Sprite
- Pepsi
- Diet Coke
Source: Beverage Digest (Subscription required)
Beverage Digest does not just rank consumption of individual sodas.
“It also ranked every category of non-alcoholic drink on the market. At the very top, with 35.4% of the volume share of the market, was bottled water. Soft drinks followed at 33.9%, followed at a much greater distance by juice, tea, sports drinks, energy drinks, and coffee,” The Guardian reported.
Coca-Cola has cancelled popular drinks as well.
Coca-Cola killed off dozens of struggling soda brands on 2020 during its reorganization during the Covid period.
“This isn’t about paring down to a specific number of product offerings under our brands. The objective is to drive impact and growth. It’s about continuing to follow the consumer and being very intentional in deciding which of our brands are most deserving of our investments and resources, and also taking the tough but important steps to identify those products that are losing relevance and therefore should exit the portfolio,” Coca-Cola Global Head of Innovation Cath Coetzer shared.
Coca-Cola's culling also saw the loss of Odwalla juices and local favorites including Northern Neck Ginger Ale, a favorite in parts of Virginia.
At the time, a group started a petition in an attempt to save Northern Neck Ginger Ale, WTVR reported.
“Hopefully, we can get enough signatures to show Coca cola how much it means to keep it on our shelves,” the group wrote.
That petition stalled out at about 10,000 supporters.
A still active group, Save TaB soda also wants Coca-Cola (KO) to change its mind.
“On October 16, 2020 the Coca-Cola Company announced they would discontinue TaB–their original diet cola–after 57 years of production. That’s where we come in. We’re TaB drinkers with a purpose. We’re the SaveTaBSoda Committee, and we’re working hard to convince Coca-Cola to reverse its decision to eliminate TaB. Please join us,” the group shared on its website.
Its petition has also stalled out at just over 8,100 signatures.
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