Slice was a line of fruit-flavored soft drinks originally manufactured by PepsiCo and introduced in 1984[2] (to replace the Teem brand) but discontinued by PepsiCo in North America in the late 2000s.
Slice was reintroduced in India by PepsiCo in 2008 as a mango-flavored fruit drink[1] where it is currently advertised as Tropicana Slice.[3]
The trademark rights for “Slice” in the United States and Canada were acquired by "New Slice Ventures LLC" in 2018, [4] which introduced it as a brand of sparkling water containing organic fruit juice.[5]
History
The original Lemon Lime Slice was introduced in 1984 as a replacement for Teem, and a competitor to Sprite and 7 Up. Its distinguishing characteristic at the time was that it contained 10% fruit juice. A diet version was introduced in 1985. The line was expanded in 1986 with Mandarin Orange, Apple, and Cherry Cola flavors, including diet versions of each. Advertisements during this era featured the slogan "We got the juice".
Slice was a big success upon release, inspiring other juice-infused drinks based on already existing juice brands, such as Coca-Cola's Minute Maid orange soda and Cadbury Schweppes's Sunkist. By May 1987, Slice held 3.2 percent of the soft drink market. One year later, it had fallen to 2.1 percent and was below 2 percent in June 1988.[6] By 1988, the juice content had been reduced (packaging now said "with fruit juices" instead of "10% fruit juices"), the slogan was changed to "Either you got it or you don't", and the Apple and Cherry Cola flavors had been discontinued.
By 1990, the packaging had been redesigned, and the juice content dropped entirely. The line of flavors was also expanded again, this time with flavors more similar to competitors like Crush, including Strawberry, Pineapple, Fruit Punch, and Grape. Slice advertising in the early 1990s featured Fido Dido, a character associated with US competitor 7 Up in international markets where PepsiCo has the rights to the latter brand. Lemon Lime Slice used the slogan "Clearly the One" during this era.[7][8]
The first two can and bottle designs featured a solid color related to the flavor of the drink. These were replaced in 1994 with black cans that featured colorful bursts related to the flavor of the drink, along with slicker graphics. More new flavors were made available during this era, including Dr Slice, a competitor to Dr Pepper. In 1997, the cans became blue with color-coordinated swirls. The Mandarin Orange flavor was reformulated around this time as an "Orange Citrus" flavor with the new slogan, "It's orange, only twisted." It would subsequently be reformulated again as just Orange Slice.
In the summer of 2000, lemon-lime Slice was replaced in most markets by Sierra Mist, which became a national brand in 2003. The rest of the Slice line was replaced in most markets by Tropicana Twister Soda in the summer of 2005.
In early 2006, Pepsi resurrected the Slice name for a new line of diet soda called Slice ONE. Marketed exclusively at Walmart stores, Slice ONE was available in orange, grape and berry flavors, all sweetened with Splenda.
As of 2009, Slice (orange, diet orange, grape, strawberry and peach flavors) was available solely from Wal-Mart Stores.
Slice was launched in India in 1993 as a mango flavored drink and quickly went on to become a leading player in the category. In India, 'Slice Mango' is promoted by Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif.[3] Slice mango is also available in Pakistan.
Slice was discontinued by PepsiCo at an unknown date in the United States between the late 2000s to early or mid 2010s, no longer being on PepsiCo's "Product Locator" website.
It appears to have been replaced in the PepsiCo product line with Starry, the successor to Sierra Mist, as of January 2023.
By 2018, New Slice Ventures LLC had acquired the Slice trademark portfolio in the United States and Canada, and was working with Revolution Brands, Dormitus Brands and Spiral Sun Ventures, to re-launch a lower-sugar, lower-calorie beverage sweetened only with USDA-certified organic fruit juice.[9]
In December 2018, New Slice Ventures announced[10] that its new Slice-branded products had become available for wholesale pre-order in four flavors: Raspberry & Grapefruit, Blackberry, Mango & Pineapple and Apple & Cranberry.[11] In late 2022, New Slice Ventures re-branded the product in a "retro-style," and released four new flavors: Orange, Lemon-Lime, Cherry and Berry. The product is available in a variety of retail stores, as well as on the brand's website.[citation needed]
Flavors
Originally, the drink contained 10% fruit juice; the juice content was reduced by 1988 and eliminated by 1990.
7 Up or Seven Up is an American brand of lemon-lime–flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo except the UK where it is distributed by Britvic, PepsiCo's designated UK distributor.
Crush is a brand of carbonated soft drinks owned and marketed internationally by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally created as an orange soda, Orange Crush. Crush competes with Coca-Cola's Fanta. It was created in 1911 by beverage and extract chemist Neil C. Ward. Most flavors of Crush are caffeine-free.
Minute Maid is an American brand of beverages, usually associated with lemonade or orange juice, but which now extends to soft drinks of different kinds, including Hi-C. Minute Maid is sold under the Cappy brand in Central Europe and under the brand "Моя Семья" in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Minute Maid was the first company to market frozen orange juice concentrate, allowing it to be distributed throughout the United States and served year-round. The Minute Maid Company is owned by The Coca-Cola Company, the world's largest marketer of fruit juices and drinks. The firm opened its headquarters in Sugar Land Town Square in Sugar Land, Texas, United States, on February 16, 2009; previously it was headquartered in the 2000 St. James Place building in Houston.
Orange soft drinks are carbonated orange drinks.
Sierra Mist was a lemon-lime flavored soft drink line introduced by PepsiCo in 1999. By 2003 it was available in all US markets.
Kas is the brand name of a soft drink produced by PepsiCo. It is made in grapefruit, orange (yellow), lemon (greenish-yellow), bitter, and apple flavors. Kasfruit juices are also offered in multiple flavors. Kas is available in Spain, Mexico, Dominican Republic and France, and was available in Portugal, Brazil and Argentina during the 1990s.
Hi-C is an American fruit juice-flavored drink made by the Minute Maid division of The Coca-Cola Company. It was created by Niles Foster in 1946 and released in 1947. The sole original flavor was orange.
Teem is a brand of carbonated soft drink introduced by PepsiCo in 1959 as a lemon-lime-flavored competitor of 7 Up. It was discontinued and delisted in the US in 1984.
Polar Beverages is a soft drink company based in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is a manufacturer and distributor of sparkling fruit beverages, seltzer, ginger ale, drink mixers, and spring water to customers in the United States. It is the largest independent soft-drink bottler in the United States.
Monster Beverage Corporation is an American beverage company that manufactures energy drinks including Monster Energy, Relentless, Reign and Burn. The company was originally founded as Hansen's in 1935 in Southern California, originally selling juice products. The company renamed itself as Monster Beverage in 2012.
Blue Sky Beverage Company was a beverage company that produced soft drinks and energy drinks. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Monster Beverage Corporation. The company was established in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1980, where it remained until it was purchased by Monster in 2000. Coca-Cola North America took ownership of Blue Sky Sodas, Hansen’s Juice Products, Hansen’s Natural Sodas, Hubert’s Lemonade, Peace Tea and other non-energy drink brands as part of Coke’s partnership with Monster Beverage Corp on Jun 12, 2015. Blue Sky Beverage Company now operates out of Corona, California. The southwestern look and feel of the artwork on the soda cans is reminiscent of the company's roots in New Mexico.
Sun Crest is a brand of flavored carbonated soft drink manufactured by The Dad's Root Beer Company, LLC, of Jasper, Indiana, and owned by Hedinger Brands, LLC, except for six countries in Asia owned by The Monarch Beverage Company, Inc., of Atlanta, Georgia. Sun Crest Orange is currently available in fountain service and glass bottles in select markets in the U.S.
Schweppes Australia is the non-alcohol business of Asahi Breweries operating in Australia. It is now known as Asahi Lifestyle Beverage having originally arrived in the country in 1850. In 1877, the first factory was built in Sydney. After an international merger with Cadbury in 1969, forming Cadbury Schweppes, the company was eventually re-separated on 27 February 2009 and, in April 2009, Schweppes Australia was acquired by Asahi Breweries.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
