What Is Slice Soda? 8 Facts About The Once-Popular Soft Drink That's Making A Comeback

The once-popular soft drink, Slice soda, has been recently spotted on shelves for the first time in about 15 years. Many people have shared a sense of nostalgic excitement over the soda they (or perhaps their parents) loved in the 1980s. Internet users have noted how they remember the original drink, and they're glad to see it return — for a long time, it seemed destined to languish in our memories as one of the past sodas we'd never get back.

Of course, it's not just those who enjoyed the original drink who are excited. Many people who are either too young to have tried Slice, or simply didn't get a chance during its heyday, are also drawn to the relaunch. One Reddit user mentioned, "I don't think I've had original Slice ... I decided to pick one of these up. The orange flavor had a very Orange Crush vibe to it, which I thought was impressive." So what exactly is the Slice soda people are so excited for? Here are eight facts about the retro soft drink making its big comeback.

Slice soda was originally launched in 1984 by PepsiCo, as an answer to lemon-lime drinks like Sprite and 7 Up. What made the soda so special was that it contained real fruit juice — this may not feel unique now, because there are several real fruit juice options widely distributed, like San Pellegrino Sparkling Drinks. At the time, though, Slice was the first of its kind to do this. At the start, the public loved it and sales skyrocketed.

In fact, Slice had seized a considerable portion of the American soft drink market by May of 1987 — a surprising feat, since the market predominately belonged to cola products at the time, rather than fruit-flavored ones. Unfortunately, this quick, dominating rise wasn't to endure, and a few years later, the soft drink's market share was relatively abysmal. This decline, at the end of the 1980s, heralded Slice's downfall, which would lead to an eventual discontinuation sometime around 2005. Production would cease and Slice would no longer grace supermarket shelves, joining the likes of other discontinued sodas like TaB as little more than fond memories.

Although Slice would continue production for more than a decade later, the beginning of its downfall can be pinpointed to a loss of market share during the late 1980s. Although it can be challenging to find out the exact reasons, there are a few factors that contributed to the soda's ongoing challenges. The most obvious issue was that other companies quickly met PepsiCo's "real juice" challenge and began producing similar sodas, saturating a market that Slice had previously stood alone in. The names chosen for these products were also problematic for Slice.

The New York Times reported that Michael Norkus, president of the Alliance Consulting Group of Cambridge, said, "The barriers were very easy to penetrate by brands that had more equity built up in their name," giving the example of Minute Maid, which has plenty of its own discontinued drinks. Advertising budgeting cuts and flaws in strategy like over-diversification could have also played a role in Slice's decline in popularity. Whatever the reason, the soda began to slowly cut back on its flavors and PepsiCo ultimately discontinued Slice.

New Slice soda wasn't brought back by its originator, PepsiCo. In fact, the soda giant has no involvement with its relaunch. Instead, the soda brand is now owned by SujaLife, under New Slice Ventures. Launched in 2012 as a health-based juice company, SujaLife aims to provide healthier choices for people's day-to-day lives — a noble mission, considering plenty of flavored sparkling waters aren't as healthy as they seem. Besides Slice, it also operates Suja Organic and Vive Organic, and all three companies have varying focuses on juice and wellness.

While people are excited to see Slice back on store shelves, the product has technically been available since late 2018. Its initial relaunch wasn't as a healthier soda replacement, though, but as a sparkling water that came in various fruit flavors, like mango pineapple, raspberry grapefruit, cranberry apple, and blackberry. After a nostalgic-embracing rebrand, the new Slice is expanding its distribution enough that people are noticing — hence the recent excitement.

Although Slice is available across the U.S., it isn't widely sold by all stores yet. The most notable distribution is with the wholesale chain store Costco, but if you don't have a membership, there's no need to despair. We've also confirmed that select branches of Acme Market, Target, Rouses Market, Piggly Wiggly, and some local non-chain grocery stores also now carry Slice soda. If you're unsure where to look, the soda company does have an online store locator to find retailers near you.

Don't live near a physical retailer? That's okay, too. You can buy select 12-packs of Slice online and have it shipped straight to your door. If you want, you could also get an ongoing subscription that delivers the healthy soda to your door biweekly or monthly — doing so will offer minimal cost savings. The only downside is you can't purchase individual cans or combination packs online.

Most people are excited because Slice is being relaunched with a retro style that's meant to inspire nostalgia — which is a big change compared to the completely different look of the previous Slice soda relaunch. But if you're expecting an identical, nostalgic taste, you may be disappointed. This new Slice has a new formula that will likely taste quite different than the original.

Slice is now being marketed as a "healthy" soda, and its new formula reflects that. Each can now contains prebiotic fiber, probiotics, and postbiotics. The company calls this their "Slice Gutsy Blend™." Each soda is also gluten-free, vegan, kosher, non-GMO, and features no artificial flavors or high-fructose corn syrup — this means it's a good choice for those on special diets or anyone focused on being more health conscious. The product is naturally sweetened, with five grams of sugar or less. It's also just as heavily carbonated as you'd expect from a soda.

New Slice soda is available online in five distinct flavors, including orange, classic cola, lemon-lime, ginger ale, and grapefruit. The store locator also shows grape and strawberry flavors available, although they aren't sold online. While we haven't tried any of these flavors yet, reviews so far are positive across the board.

Reviewers have praised the orange flavor as being bright and tangy, and like sunshine in a can. The general consensus for the classic cola flavor is that it tastes nearly identical to other mainstream soda products like Coke and Pepsi. That's a boon in a healthier product, and should help Slice to compete with the new soda flavors being released in 2025. Reviewers agree that the ginger ale has a great taste and that the drink makes them feel good about making gut-healthy choices. As for the grapefruit spritz, one reviewer on the Slice website called it "really nice and crisp with a little sweetness and grapefruit zest." Some of the most glowing reviews are for the lemon-lime, praising its lack of sugar and corn syrup, together with its light flavor. With such excellent responses, it's unsurprising that the soda is already winning people over as subscribers.

Not everyone was on board with this new Slice relaunch, and many have voiced their criticism. Several people remarked that they thought the pricing was too high, although we recognize this could possibly be a regional issue. One Reddit user thought it was "kinda messed up how they're using nostalgia to bait people," noting that it wouldn't taste the same as the soda people remember.

One person gave a negative review to the orange flavor in particular, breaking the disappointing news that it does indeed taste nothing like the original. The main criticisms were that they found the carbonation too heavy and the flavor too weak. The new Slice apparently also has a noticeable aftertaste, which some may not enjoy. This reviewer did enjoy the other three Slice flavors, though. Seemingly, not every flavor's going to hit the mark for everyone.

There are plenty of people excited about Slice's comeback and eager to try the long-lost drink. One Reddit user wrote about seeing the relaunch, "My mouth started watering and my taste buds tingled. Can't remember the last time I had one but my body remembers how it felt." Others waxed nostalgic about the smell of summers sitting by the pool and the taste of the soda.

Some who have already tried the relaunched soft drink have nothing but great things to say. Their reports are that it's delicious and tastes very similar to other sodas, ranking it among the best of the prebiotic drinks out there. Others raved about the taste of new Slice, delighted by the way the flavors of the orange and lemon-lime drinks took them back to their childhood. Notwithstanding the occasional negative reviews, the same thoughts are echoed by a lot of people who've enjoyed the relaunched Slice. Clearly, these nostalgic sodas are worth a try.