Coca-Cola continues to tap into the demand for cherry
SOFT drinks giant Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) has announced that Diet Coke Cherry has become a permanent addition to its line-up of drinks.
Introduced in a bid to help retailers to tap into the rising demand for cherry-flavoured drinks, the launch follows on from the successful return of Diet Coke Cherry as a limited edition earlier this year, which also featured an 80s-inspired design.
Diet Coke Cherry combines the popular zero sugar cola drink with a vibrant cherry flavour to provide store owners with a winning combination for sales. According to Nielsen data, cherry variants have helped to deliver £270million in value sales over the past year and Diet Coke continues to perform well, with a worth of more than £500million in retail.
Rolling into stores from early January, Diet Coke Cherry will be available in 330ml cans, 500ml PET bottles, multipacks and a two litre bottle format.
The launch will be supported by paid social media activity. in-store samlping, digital and OOH advertising aimed at driving trial and repeat purchases from consumers.
Convenience retailers can also request Diet Coke Cherry POS materials and download some digital assets via MyCCEP.com to help bring the launch into the store.
Rob Yeomans, VP for commercial development at CCEP GB, said: “Diet Coke continues to enjoy exceptional loyalty – so much so that 32% of its drinkers say they’d drop out of the cola category altogether if it wasn’t available. That tells you everything you need to know about the strength of the brand.
“The return of our limited-edition Diet Cherry Coke earlier this year was met with incredible demand, so we’re making it a permanent variant designed to deliver long-term value for retailers. With cherry flavours contributing over half of cola segment growth, this launch is set to be a standout performer in 2026.
“To help retailers make the most of the opportunity, we’re providing eye-catching POS and digital assets via MyCCEP.com, which is ideal for driving purchase and getting shoppers excited from day one.”
