DRY Drops its Soda Surname, Now ‘DRY Sparkling’

Screen Shot 2015-08-28 at 12.10.00 PMA decade since its inception, Seattle-based craft soda brand DRY is celebrating its ten-year anniversary with a makeover. The company has dropped its ‘Soda’ surname for ‘Sparkling,’ a brand revamp that came as a response to consumers’ increasing aversion to all things associated with soda, according to company founder Sharelle Klaus.

The decision came out of a company-sponsored market research study conducted at the end of 2014.

“What we learned from this big consumer usage study was that the word soda really is a problem for some people,” said Klaus. “And because of that, we weren’t communicating what DRY was as accurately as we would have liked. It’s a sophisticated product, uniquely flavored and obviously much less sweet than most sodas, so [sparkling] helps to better explain that to the consumer.”

New DRY Sparkling bottles began shipping to retailers in June, with new packaging design across its bottles, cans and recently introduced 750 mL “Celebration” bottles that Klaus says “highlights the brand’s flavors in an artistic format.”

The company is also celebrating its birthday with a limited-edition Lemongrass Reserve Edition flavor, which harks back to the brand’s earliest days of production in Klaus’ kitchen. The short run of 5,000 cases of Lemongrass DRY Sparkling will be available at select retailers throughout the Pacific Northwest and online at Amazon.com.

“It’s one of the first products I created in my kitchen,” Klaus adds. “And that’s a big part of our story. I wanted a product that offered an elevated experience to the soda that was available at that time. All of what DRY is doing today is a continuation of that idea of elevating the drinking experience.”