After a decade of watching the category get browbeaten and bastardized, Slice is once again standing up for soda.
For those that missed it, Slice represented the latest in CSD innovation when it was originally launched by PepsiCo in 1984, sporting zero caffeine and using 10% real fruit juice. But after years languishing in the company’s expansive soda portfolio, the trademark was acquired by Chicago-based VC group Spiral Sun Ventures in 2018 and reintroduced as a zero-calorie sparkling water flavored with organic juice.
After that product missed the mark, parent company New Slice Ventures has brought in a new CEO — Evan Holod, taking over the role from Sun Spiral managing partner Mark Thomann — to help take it back to basics. As it prepares to reintroduce itself to consumers once again early next year, Slice is embracing its roots as a tried-and-true soda, albeit with some improvements made under the hood.
“I wanted to give people an opportunity to enjoy that soda that they love so much and to drink as much of it as they want, frankly, without worrying about all the other brands that are currently in the space now,” said Holod, a former Brand Director at The Coca-Cola Company who took on the CEO role this January. “You know, they’ve got fiber in them, they’ve got vinegar in them — you drink too much of them and you know you’re gonna spend the entire day paying for it. There is no soda that fills this space right now.”
Though the defunct sparkling water line ultimately “did not meet the expectations or the needs” of consumers, according to Holod, its launch confirmed that Slice still enjoys high awareness (around 80%) amongst Generation X. And the brand isn’t shy about leaning into nostalgia; he described it as “a love letter to soda and to the 90s,” and planned media activations for next year should emphasize that identity.
But how much will this new line remind consumers of the original Slice? Not much aside from the name and positioning, according to Holod. The formulation has been “cleaned up” and simplified, retaining the use of fruit juice while swapping out added sugar in favor of natural sweeteners allulose and monk fruit, cutting the calorie count to 15 per serving. The line — available in Cherry, Lemon & Lime, Berry and Orange — is set to soft launch in 6-packs starting in March 2022, with the aim of rolling out across channels by Memorial Day. The brand is targeting a $5.99 SRP, supported by robust promotional pricing, such as 2-for-$10 and 3-for-$12.
Of course, the revamped Slice isn’t the only independent beverage brand flying the flag for classic, non-functional sodas: both Wave Soda, Maine Root and United Sodas of America all come to mind, not to mention the raft of craft CSD pioneers like Reed’s, Jones and Boylan. But soda’s upwards sales trend — rising 6.9% year-over-year through mid-November, according to the latest Nielsen data — is cause for optimism at Slice that its approach can bear fruit.
“This is a soda,” said Holod. “This is something you chug, that’s sweet, that comes in fruit flavors. It’s something that’s bold and fun and youthful and dynamic — that’s what soda is. Soda is effervescence, it’s bubbles, it’s dynamic. Functional benefits from a soda? If you’ve got functional benefits, you ain’t a soda.”