Carbonated beverage trends are coming full circle, as sparkling water brand Spindrift re-enters the soda category, amid renewed interest in nostalgic flavors with a better-for-you twist.
Available on Amazon and later this year at select retailers, Spindrift Soda launched on February 24 with five flavors – Concord Freeze, Ginger Ale, Orange Cream Float, Shirley Temple and Strawberry Shortcake – and is sweetened with fruit juice, with 8g or less of sugar per 12-ounce can. A proportion of sales will go towards Kiss The Ground, a non-profit supporting regenerative agriculture.
The soda can design is a departure from Spindrift’s original two-tone sparkling water can design and features the product name repeated six times in different colors. Spindrift wanted to speak “the design language of the category” and attract new customers to the brand, explained Jon Silverman, senior VP of business development and innovation at Spindrift Beverage Co.
“We want to bring new consumers under this major tent with soda,” he said. “We did not want folks to feel like, ‘wait, I need to have known the brand already to step into the soda space’. And the soda category is louder. It is brighter. It has fuller experiences and is more indulgent.”
Liquid Death shakes up portfolio with soda flavors
Spindrift competitor Liquid Death also is shaking up its portfolio of carbonated beverages, following the brand's expansion into teas and beverage enhancers. Ahead of the Spindrift Soda launch, Liquid Death in January released three soda flavors: Killer Cola, Doctor Death and Rootbeer Wrath.
Returning carbonated beverages to their roots
Nearly a decade after shuttering its soda business, Spindrift is re-entering the category amid a flurry of better-for-you innovation and increased consumer demands for nostalgic flavors, said Silverman. Consumers' renewed interest in soda flavors with better-for-you attributes, including gut health, is driving what Walmart dubbed the modern soda set.
Coca-Cola launched its answer to gut-health sodas, such as Poppi and Olipop, with Simply Pop in February. In the same month, natural juice brand Suja Life relaunched the iconic ’80s citrus soda brand Slice with a gutsy modern makeover, following the soda brand’s acquisition last year.
Ingredient innovation, including a deeper understanding of non-caloric sweetener systems, opened pathways for the soda industry to expand into more better-for-you occasions, Silverman noted. Historically, carbonated beverages like club sodas and ginger ales were viewed as digestion aids, he added.
“We know that soda is now starting to cleave off into these different vertical and different pathways,” Silverman added.
‘There is no silver bullet’ to supply and trade challenges
Like other brands, Spindrift is securing its supply chain amid concerns of increasing global trade tensions and raw material shortages made worse by climate change, Silverman said.
Spindrift is strategically purchasing fruits by locking in prices for a longer time. It is also exploring sourcing more ingredients from the US, including from smaller farmers, he added. However, “there is no silver bullet” when it comes to supply chain challenges, he added.
“It is a lot of small steps because we do not look at it and say, gosh, there is this one big piece of exposure out here. But there are a lot of small areas where we wish there was more certainty and stability. But the upside and downside of dealing with real ingredients – not concentrated – is you are going to have those oscillations in the market,” Silverman said.
