NEW YORK — Coca-Cola is discontinuing the production of its new Spiced flavor just six months after the soda hit shelves, 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 flavors. “As part of this strategy, we’re planning to phase out Coca-Cola Spiced to introduce an exciting new flavor in 2025,” a spokesperson said.
Coca-Cola Spiced is being discontinued just six months after its debut. The short lifespan of Spiced Coke is surprising, because the company promoted it as a permanent flavor . Coca-Cola didn’t provide a specific reason for axing Spiced, although lack of awareness of the new offering and confusion about the flavor (it wasn’t actually spicy) probably contributed to lackluster sales.
Coca-Cola introduced Spiced Coke in February with a splashy ad campaign . The beverage blended the traditional Coke flavor with raspberry notes. Spiced was created to attract Gen-Z drinkers, who have a thirst for punchier flavors , and soda giants have ceded some of their flavor innovation to pluckier upstarts, like Olipop and Poppi.
For the past several years, Coke has been routinely updating its lineup with limited-time offerings , such as a new Oreo-flavor soda . It has also released some ambiguously flavored limited-time Cokes, including “Dreamworld,” “Starlight” and “Byte” flavored Coca-Cola. It also partnered with DJ Ma.
