Sprite Cherry is releasing nationwide later this year. That may have confused some of you, because in select regions around the United States, Sprite Cherry is already available. I’ve been seeing Sprite Cherry on Speedway shelves for years now. So, when I saw Cherry Sprite on an internal list of “new” releases, I was briefly confused before digging deeper. And what I found will not shock you. But it is pretty interesting to see how corporations treat certain areas differently.
Why wasn’t Sprite Cherry available everywhere before now?
Taste changes. Cherry Sprite first launched nationwide back in 2017 after The Coca-Cola Company determined that “Sprite with Cherry” was one of the most popular Coca-Cola Freestyle mixes. (Coke using Freestyle mixes to determine what gets a wide release? What a novel idea.) At some point after that, overall sales dropped enough that the flavor was dropped down to the ominous “regionally available” status.
What does “regionally available” mean?
Roughly speaking, it means any Coca-Cola bottler had the option to continue producing Sprite Cherry if that area’s sales supported it. Over time, more and more regions likely stopped producing it as other Coca-Cola products showed they could sell better in that shelf space. It never completely disappeared, but it became a comparatively “rare” flavor. But not for much longer!
Why would Coke bring back a failed flavor?
It’s certainly not unheard of for Coca-Cola to change their mind about something if the numbers support it. Remember their two biggest releases from 2024? Coke Spiced, the new “permanent” flavor, and Sprite Chill, the new “limited edition” flavor? Here we are in 2025 and Coke Spiced is officially dead in the water while Sprite Chill is still being stocked everywhere you look. (I’ve been trying to get something on the record from Coca-Cola about the status of Sprite Chill being changed from limited edition to permanent, but no dice. That said, everyone I’ve spoken to on the inside is confident it isn’t going anywhere.)
So, Sprite Cherry is back for good?
Speaking plainly, Sprite Cherry will be available nationally as long as it sells well enough to take up the shelf space. Only time will tell whether this change lasts for months, years, or forever. Basically, if you love it, get it while you can.
Will we get a Sprite Cherry Zero Sugar as well?
At this time, it doesn’t look like it. While the original Sprite Cherry did launch in both regular and zero sugar variants, I’ve seen no evidence that this expansion will bring Sprite Cherry Zero Sugar back to shelves. If we’ve learned anything, you might be able to convince them by ordering the flavor in bulk through that great equalizer: the Coke Freestyle machine.
