The functional soda race is heating up as Suja Life relaunches citrus beverage brand Slice with a functional twist as the company leans into established branding to win consumers.
Slice re-launches in Grapefruit Spritz, Lemon Lime, Orange and Strawberry flavors and will be available at select Target, Costco Albertsons and HEB stores with Classic Cola, Ginger Ale and Grape to be launched in the middle of the year.
Each beverage is formulated with a blend of prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics from soluble vegetable prebiotic fiber, Bacillus subtilus DE111 and Bifidobacterium Longum ES1 – what Suja trademarked as its Gutsy Blend – for a functional take on the soda. Additionally, the beverage is formulated with 5 grams of sugar per 12-ounce can.
Suja Life bridges two eras of soda with Slice’s re-launch
Known for its natural juices and wellness shots, Suja Life acquired Slice from New Slice Ventures in March 2024. The acquisition of Slice followed Suja Life’s purchase of competitor Vive Organic in October 2022.
While exploring ways to enter the functional sparkling category, Suja Life found an opportunity to bridge two soda eras – the growing functional carbonated beverage category of today and traditional soda - explained Marisa Hirtzel, head of sparkling and lead of the Slice launch.
Suja Life wanted to create the “most true-to-soda experience” in the functional category with the Slice re-launch.
“What we are really trying to do is close that gap between where healthy soda is today and the Coca-Colas and Pepsis of the world,” Hirtzel said. The Slice re-launch is “really trying to hit soda in every element of the drinking experience as well as branding, which is where the trademark comes in,” she added.
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The relaunched Slice can is reminiscent of the original 1980 version with similar coloring and logo design, but the newer formulation sports a “5g sugar” callout around the top of the can and a “healthy soda” callout towards the bottom. Also, the callouts of 10% real juice from the original can were removed as the beverage now contains 2% juice from concentrate.
Suja Life is cognizant of recent regulatory changes – including FDA’s new definition of healthy – and is actively working to ensure it meets updated requirements, Hirtzel said.
“We met all the previous requirements from the FDA on the healthy claim, and we will work to adjust to match that moving forward with any and all changes,” Hirtzel elaborated.
Functional soda race heats up
Consumer demand for gut-friendly sodas is pushing brands and retailers to add new offerings. Last year, Walmart launched a dedicated “Modern Soda” section of its carbonated beverage aisle, featuring brands like Poppi, Olipop, Zevia and others.
Additionally, brands launched a slew of new gut-friendly carbonated beverages in 2024, capitalizing on this demand.
Brew Dr. kicked off 2024 by launching a low-sugar probiotic seltzer brand Sipjoy, and Health-ade released a monk fruit-sweetened carbonated beverage SunSip. Later in 2024, Olipop partnered with Barbie for a strawberry and cream version of its soda.
