The Great Soda Purge: 9 PepsiCo Soda Flavors And 21 Other Drinks Discontinued In Massive Portfolio Cut

The beverage world is currently undergoing a massive, silent shift, as PepsiCo—one of the world's largest food and beverage corporations—has confirmed a significant restructuring that is seeing 30 different beverage products, including 9 popular soda flavors, vanish from shelves globally. This aggressive move, which is part of CEO Ramon Laguarta’s multi-year "portfolio optimization" strategy, aims to streamline the company’s offerings, eliminate underperforming Stock Keeping Units (SKUs), and refocus resources on core, high-growth brands in a rapidly changing consumer landscape. This means that as of late December 2025, many fan-favorite flavors are now officially gone, leaving a significant void in the soda and sparkling water aisles. The decision to aggressively prune the portfolio by cutting 20% of its SKUs is a direct response to a consumer base whose tastes are rapidly shifting away from traditional sugary sodas toward healthier, lower-sugar, and functional beverages. While the company rarely issues a formal press release for such discontinuations, the products have been quietly marked as "limited time left" or simply stopped production, signaling a massive corporate shift towards efficiency and profitability. The following deep dive reveals the full scope of this unprecedented product purge, listing the confirmed soda flavors and other beverages that have been axed.

The Corporate Strategy: Why PepsiCo Is Cutting 30 SKUs

The discontinuation of 30 beverages is not a sign of financial distress but rather a calculated, strategic maneuver led by PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta. The core intention is a dramatic portfolio optimization designed to accelerate organic volume growth and improve profit margins by reducing operational complexity.

The Focus on High-Performing SKUs and Cost-Cutting

The sheer volume of products—30 SKUs—being cut highlights the company's commitment to efficiency. Maintaining a vast array of niche flavors and less popular products creates significant logistical and manufacturing complexity, which translates to higher costs. By eliminating these underperforming items, PepsiCo can:

• Reduce Supply Chain Complexity: Fewer products means simpler sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution, leading to substantial cost savings.
• Focus Marketing Spend: Resources previously spread thin across dozens of niche products can now be concentrated on core brands like Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Bubly's best-sellers, maximizing return on investment.
• Accelerate Innovation: The freed-up resources allow for a more aggressive push into new, high-growth categories, such as functional beverages, enhanced waters, and low-sugar alternatives, which align with modern consumer wellness trends.

This proactive SKU reduction is a forward-looking strategy that prepares the company for a more streamlined and profitable future, emphasizing quality and scale over sheer product diversity. The move is a clear signal that the era of ultra-niche, experimental soda flavors is ending, making way for a more focused, health-conscious product lineup.

The Confirmed List: 9 Soda Flavors and Other Beverages Discontinued

The most impactful part of this portfolio purge is the removal of 9 distinct soda flavors, which are often the most difficult for consumers to accept. The remaining 21 beverages largely consist of sparkling water flavors, energy drinks, and other niche products that failed to gain mainstream traction.

The 9 Discontinued Soda Flavors (Pepsi and Mountain Dew)

The soda category bore the brunt of the cuts, with several fan-favorite and experimental flavors from the Pepsi and Mountain Dew families being permanently retired. These products, while having passionate followings, did not meet the company's new volume and profitability thresholds.

Pepsi Brand Discontinuations:

• Pepsi Mango: A flavor introduced to capitalize on tropical trends, it failed to secure a permanent spot against the original cola.
• Pepsi Mango Zero Sugar: The diet version of the mango flavor, also removed in the streamlining effort.
• Nitro Pepsi Original: The innovative, nitrogen-infused cola designed to mimic a draft beer texture. Despite initial buzz, it was too niche for mass market success.
• Nitro Pepsi Vanilla: The vanilla variant of the nitrogen-infused line, signaling the complete failure of the "Nitro" experiment.

Mountain Dew Brand Discontinuations:

• Mountain Dew Major Melon: The watermelon-flavored soda, which had a significant launch, is now being phased out.
• Mountain Dew Major Melon Zero Sugar: The zero-sugar version, following its full-sugar counterpart out the door.
• Mountain Dew Spark: The raspberry lemonade-flavored soda that was a popular addition.
• Mountain Dew Spark Zero Sugar: The zero-sugar variant of Spark, confirming the end of this flavor line.
• Mountain Dew Purple: While not officially one of the core 9, sources indicate other niche/regional Mountain Dew variations were also cut, contributing to the total SKU reduction.

The 21 Other Beverages Facing the Axe

The remaining 21 discontinued products primarily come from PepsiCo’s non-soda portfolio, particularly the Bubly sparkling water brand and other experimental or low-volume drinks. This move emphasizes the company's commitment to only keeping the most successful, high-volume products in the sparkling water market.

Confirmed Bubly Flavor Cuts:

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• Lemon Bubly
• Apple Bubly
• Cranberry Bubly

Confirmed Bubly Bounce (Caffeinated) Cuts:

• Bubly Bounce Citrus Cherry
• Bubly Bounce Mango Passion Fruit

The removal of these Bubly flavors is significant because it shows PepsiCo is even willing to trim its successful sparkling water line to focus on the absolute top-selling flavors (like Lime, Strawberry, and Grapefruit). This ruthless efficiency is the new standard for the company. While the complete list of all 21 other beverages remains proprietary, industry analysts suggest the cuts also included various low-volume regional Gatorade flavors, certain Tropicana juice blends, and less-popular Starbucks Ready-to-Drink coffee flavors (under the PepsiCo distribution agreement).

The Future of PepsiCo’s Beverage Portfolio

The discontinuation of 30 products is simply the beginning of a larger corporate transformation. PepsiCo is not retreating from the beverage market; instead, it is strategically advancing into the future with a leaner, more focused product line that caters to evolving consumer demands.

Innovation Over Fragmentation

The goal is to replace a fragmented portfolio of hundreds of niche products with a robust lineup of innovative, high-impact products. The focus is shifting heavily toward low-sugar alternatives, functional hydration, and premium ready-to-drink options. The company is doubling down on key brands that have shown consistent growth and profitability, such as:

• Pepsi Zero Sugar: A critical focus area to compete directly with Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.
• Gatorade Zero and Propel: Emphasizing the health and hydration segment.
• Bubly Core Flavors: Concentrating resources on the top-performing sparkling water SKUs.

This beverage portfolio restructuring is a calculated risk. While it may alienate a small segment of loyal customers who adored the discontinued flavors, the long-term benefit is a more agile, cost-efficient, and profitable corporation ready to dominate the next generation of the non-alcoholic beverage market. Consumers should expect to see fewer, but more consistently available, core products and a new wave of innovative drinks that align with the latest health and wellness trends in the coming year.