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Pepsi Co. is bidding goodbye to its Sierra Mist as the brand continuously failed to keep up with its competitors. Following a continuous struggle of over 24 years, the lemon soda brand failed to compete on even terms with Sprite and will now be replaced with a new soda. Pepsi Co. will be launching an all-new lemon-lime soda called Starry that will be available nationwide by the coming week.
Pepsi fans don't have to worry about the discontinuation of Sierra Mist because its replacement, Starry, features similarly refreshing flavors in a whole new rebranded packaging. Customers will be able to enjoy the new soda in both regular and sugar-free variants starting next week. The new soda has a distinct lemony feel with a hint of sweetness that refreshes one's mood.
Ever since the dawn of the era, Pepsi and Coca-Cola have shared a fate engrossed in a legendary rivalry. The two largest soda companies in the world have been competing for several years to ensure their dominance in the international soda market.
While there are many other big and small competitors across the world, none seems to match up to the rivalry Pepsi and Coca-Cola share. Talking about rivalry, Dr. Pepper's has also managed to give considerable, if not equal, competition to the two soda companies for some time.
Pepsi Co. is replacing Sierra Mist with the new drink to earn a significant stake in the lemon soda market
First introduced to the US market in 1999, Sierra Mist was a PepsiCo. original lemon-lime flavored soft drink. Available nationwide by 2003, the lemon soda had to compete with Coca Cola's Sprite, which was already a favorite among people of all ages. The two lemony drinks have been pitted against each other for more than two decades, but Sierra never managed to do receive the same popularity as Sprite.
Owning a market share of a mere 0.2%, the lemon soda failed terribly. Even with multiple rebranding attempts, including the 2016 Mist Twist rebranding, the drink couldn't appease Americans much. Though a good number of people still preferred Sierra Mist over Sprite, it wasn't enough to keep the drink going any further.
Pointing at how Sierra failed to keep up with the market, Neil Saunders, Managing Director of Retail for GlobalData, says:
"At a time when growth in traditional soda is sluggish and when the shelves are being flooded with new and innovative beverages being a tired second-tier player doesn't really cut it."
As PepsiCo. replaces the 24-year-old drink with the new Starry, the company hopes to earn a significant stake in the lemon soda market with a fresh offering. Focused on Gen-Z, the new soda will be available at all large and small retail and department stores nationwide by the end of January. Customers can expect to pay a price similar to the Sierra Mist for the new PepsiCo. lime soda.
