Coca-Cola Spiced Cancelled After 7 Months on the Market

Coca-Cola Co. is dropping its new “permanent” flavor just over seven months after it hit the market.

The beverage giant announced 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 are always looking at what our consumers like and adjusting our product line,” the Atlanta-based company said in a statement.

Coca-Cola Spiced went on sale in the United States and Canada on February 19. At the time, the company said it would be the first permanent addition to its North American portfolio in three years.

Coca-Cola didn’t say Wednesday what was wrong, but it may have something to do with the name. Coca-Cola Spiced isn’t very spicy; it tastes mostly like raspberries.

It may also have been too quick to market. Shakir Moin, Coca-Cola’s North American marketing director, told The Associated Press in February that Coca-Cola Spiced was developed in just seven weeks. It typically takes Coca-Cola a year to create a new drink.

“Consumers are moving faster. The market is moving faster. We have to be faster than the market,” Moin said.

Coca-Cola has been looking for ways to get younger consumers excited about its signature cola. In 2022, the brand launched Coca-Cola Creations, a series of eight limited-edition Coca-Cola flavors in colorful cans and bottles. Notes of coconut, strawberry, watermelon and other flavors were added to the drinks.

Last month, it launched a limited edition Oreo-flavored Coca-Cola with special black and white packaging.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola is also moving more into alcoholic beverages. The company’s first alcoholic beverage in the U.S., Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, was released in 2021. Earlier this month, Coca-Cola and Bacardi Limited announced an agreement to market a pre-mixed rum and Coca-Cola cocktail in Europe and Mexico next year.