英文外刊阅读 Coke’s first new permanent flavor in years adds a spicy twist

Coke’s first new permanent flavor in years adds a spicy twist

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN

Updated 10:03 AM EST, Wed February 7, 2024

Coca-Cola Spiced hits shelves on February 19.

New YorkCNN —

Coke has a problem: People are increasingly seeking out water, seltzer and other flavored drinks and treating the 137-year-old soda as, well, a treat.

To counteract the trend, Coca-Cola over the past few years has experimented with wacky limited-time offerings to persuade customers to try Coke again. But its latest flavor, Coca-Cola Spiced, is its first permanent addition in a while. It’s part of Coke’s attempt to cater to tastes changing along with America’s demographics.

Coca-Cola announced the new Spiced flavor Wednesday, saying it blends the traditional Coke flavor with raspberry and spiced flavors. It will be available both in full sugar and zero-sugar varieties when it hits store shelves in the US and Canada in the coming weeks.

Coke is feeling competition from smaller brands that produce punchier and fruit-inspired flavors, like Olipop and Poppi, that have attracted consumers’ attention.

“Growth in sales of flavored sodas has generally outpaced cola for years, which is helped by a growing multicultural population,” said Duane Stanford, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest.

Traditional Coke, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Diet Coke sales grew by just 1% in North America in 2022, the most recent year for which the company has provided full sales data. That was outpaced by 3% growth in sparkling water and juice brands. In other regions, traditional Coke sales growth was outmatched by water, tea, sports drinks and coffee.

A rare new permanent addition

Coke doesn’t often add new permanent flavors to its lineup: Spiced joins just a few other flavors it always sells, including its flagship flavor, cherry and vanilla.

Spiced was selected because it’s “all about being on category trend and responsive to our consumer preferences,” who are craving bolder and punchier flavors, Sue Lynne Cha, Coke’s vice president of marketing for North America, told CNN.

Coke’s research found that an “increase in consumer willingness to try a spiced beverage” and that raspberry was selected more than 5 million times on its Freestyle drink machines in 2022, which the company “often uses for inspiration” for new flavors, she said.

“Consumers are looking for more bold flavors and more complex flavor profiles. That’s a trend we started to see in food, but also in beverage and we though that was a unique space for us to play in,” she said, adding that there’s been of a “desire of discovery” with people wanting to try something new.

Coca-Cola Spiced goes on sale February 19 in both cans and bottles in various sizes at most national retailers.

Coke’s first new permanent flavor in years adds a spicy twist

可口可乐的第一个新永久口味加入了香辣

Coke has a problem: People are increasingly seeking out water, seltzer and other flavored drinks and treating the 137-year-old soda as, well, a treat.

可口可乐面临一个问题：人们越来越倾向于选择水、气泡水和其他口味饮料，把这款有137年历史的汽水当作一种享受（感觉不太对）。

To counteract the trend, Coca-Cola over the past few years has experimented with wacky limited-time offerings to persuade customers to try Coke again. But its latest flavor, Coca-Cola Spiced, is its first permanent addition in a while. It’s part of Coke’s attempt to cater to tastes changing along with America’s demographics.

为了抵抗这一趋势，可口可乐在过去几年里尝试了一些古怪的限时产品，以说服顾客再次尝试可口可乐。但它的最新口味产品，香辣可口可乐，是它长时间以来第一个永久性产品。这是可口可乐试图迎合随着美国人口结构变化而变化的口味。

Coca-Cola announced the new Spiced flavor Wednesday, saying it blends the traditional Coke flavor with raspberry and spiced flavors. It will be available both in full sugar and zero-sugar varieties when it hits store shelves in the US and Canada in the coming weeks.

可口可乐公司星期三宣布了新的香辣口味，称其将传统的可乐口味与树莓和香辛料口味混合在一起。未来几周，当它在美国和加拿大上架时，它将有全糖和零糖两种类型。

Coke is feeling competition from smaller brands that produce punchier and fruit-inspired flavors, like Olipop and Poppi, that have attracted consumers’ attention.

可口可乐感受到了来自一些小品牌的竞争，它们的产品口味更浓郁，以水果为灵感，如Olipop和Poppi，吸引了消费者。

“Growth in sales of flavored sodas has generally outpaced cola for years, which is helped by a growing multicultural population,” said Duane Stanford, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest.

“多年来，风味汽水的销量增长超过了可乐，这得益于日益增长的多元文化人口”，《Beverage Digest》的编辑兼出版商Duane Stanford说道。

Traditional Coke, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Diet Coke sales grew by just 1% in North America in 2022, the most recent year for which the company has provided full sales data. That was outpaced by 3% growth in sparkling water and juice brands. In other regions, traditional Coke sales growth was outmatched by water, tea, sports drinks and coffee.

根据可口可乐公司提供的最近一年完整销售数据，2022年，传统可乐、可口可乐零糖和健怡可乐在北美的销售额仅增长了1%。气泡水和果汁品牌的增长率则超过了3%。在其他地区，传统可口可乐的销售增长被水、茶、运动饮料和咖啡超越。

A rare new permanent addition

一种罕见的新永久性产品

Coke doesn’t often add new permanent flavors to its lineup: Spiced joins just a few other flavors it always sells, including its flagship flavor, cherry and vanilla.

可口可乐通常不会在其产品线中添加新的永久口味：香辣口味只是加入到了它一直在销售的其他几种口味中，包括其旗舰口味：樱桃和香草。

Spiced was selected because it’s “all about being on category trend and responsive to our consumer preferences,” who are craving bolder and punchier flavors, Sue Lynne Cha, Coke’s vice president of marketing for North America, told CNN.

可口可乐北美营销副总裁Sue Lynne Cha告诉CNN，之所以选择香辣口味，是因为它“完全是为了紧跟趋势，迎合我们的消费者的偏好”，他们渴望更大胆、更浓郁的口味。

Coke’s research found that an “increase in consumer willingness to try a spiced beverage” and that raspberry was selected more than 5 million times on its Freestyle drink machines in 2022, which the company “often uses for inspiration” for new flavors, she said.

可口可乐的研究发现，“消费者尝试香辣饮料的意愿增加了”，2022年，在其Freestyle饮料机器上，树莓被选了500多万次，该公司经常用Freestyle饮料机作为灵感来开发新口味，她说道。

“Consumers are looking for more bold flavors and more complex flavor profiles. That’s a trend we started to see in food, but also in beverage and we though that was a unique space for us to play in,” she said, adding that there’s been of a “desire of discovery” with people wanting to try something new.

“消费者想要尝试更大胆更复杂的口味。这是我们在食品和饮料中看到的一种趋势，我们认为这对我们来说是一个独特的地带”，她说道，人们有一种“去发现的欲望”，希望尝试新的东西。

Coca-Cola Spiced goes on sale February 19 in both cans and bottles in various sizes at most national retailers.

香辣可口可乐将于2月19日在全国大多数零售商开始销售，有各种不同容量的罐装和瓶装。