In recent years, Coca-Cola hasn't seemed to take beverage development very seriously. Instead of trying to create the new big thing, the company has seemed to bounce between gimmicks and changes in the margins.
The company has partnered with various celebrities for limited-time-offer flavors and it even released a flavor created by artificial intelligence (AI). It's hard to not see that as a stunt when the company describes it this way:
"Coca‑Cola Y3000 Zero Sugar was co-created with human and artificial intelligence by understanding how fans envision the future through emotions, aspirations, colors, flavors and more. Fans’ perspectives from around the world, combined with insights gathered from artificial intelligence, helped inspire Coca‑Cola to create the unique taste of Y3000," the company shared in a press release.
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In theory, the product was meant to imagine what soda might taste like in the year 3000. In reality, it's a silly exercise designed to get attention, not actually create a core new flavor for the company.
This has been happening as Coke's rival, PepsiCo (PEP) -) overhauled its lemon-lime platform earlier this year. That was a major change that involved the company killing the Sierra Mist brand and replacing it with Starry, a new effort to take on Sprite designed to appeal to millennial customers.
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Coca-Cola has a new Sprite product line
While Pepsi is trying gain market share with Stary, Coca-Cola has the unchallenged lemon-lime soda leader in Sprite. It's not a relatively close battle like Coke and Pepsi's namesake products, it's more or less the Kansas City Chiefs against a low-tier college program.
Now, to build on that lead, Coca-Cola (KO) -) will be launching a new Sprite platform, Sprite Chill. That's not the flavors name, it's sort of the overall name for the umbrella of product Coke plans to add under the Sprite banner.
"The flavor itself, at least the first one coming out, will be Cherry-Lime," Sporked reported.
The Chill part is actually embedded into how the beverage will make consumers feel.
"Literally. Sprite is going to add some sort of cooling agent to the drink so that it gives you a cooling sensation when you drink it, much like when you eat a York Peppermint Patties or candy canes or entire tubes of toothpaste (I cannot recommend that you try this last one)," Jessica Block wrote.
Essentially, this is Coca-Cola trying to create a new sensation because it gives drinkers, well, a new sensation.
The Sprite Chill line is expected in Spring 2024.
Coca-Cola builds on its core brands
While it has innovated new products, Coke generally follows a model of using its existing brands to launch new products. That's something CEO James Quincey spoke about during Coca-Cola's third-quarter earnings call.
"We continue to see promising early results for Jack Daniel's and Coca-Cola in Europe. We are learning and expanding in our core, including our recent announcement of our Absolut Vodka and Sprite," he said.
Sprite has been a key part of the company's global strategy.
"Within sparkling soft drinks, elasticities are holding up well, and we continue to drive quality leadership with Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Fanta. For example, our systems stepped up in-store activation on Sprite Lymonade legacy with increased displays at point of sale, which drove higher household penetration and repeat purchases," he added.
