The Grape Awakening 🍇 📈

As kids growing up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, grape led the way in so many of the products we consumed. Jelly, juice, Purplesaurus Rex Kool-Aid, Welch’s soda, bubble gum, Jolly Ranchers, Flintstone Vitamins, Fruit Roll-Ups, hell, even Dimetapp.

A near fatal blow came in 1991, when the flavor was dismissed as “purple stuff” by a young beverage bully in the now-famous Sunny Delight commercial. I’m not sure grape ever fully recovered and by the late '90s, kids had fully moved on. More exotic and premium flavors emerged, like kiwi-strawberry and blue raspberry, sending grape down to the minor leagues. And that’s where it mostly stayed…until now.

All of a sudden, grape has returned with a vengeance, and it’s got a fresh modifier to give it that feeling of intention and a premium touch: Concord. Today, we’ll look at 8 ways that grape has reemerged across nearly every beverage format, what makes it such a versatile (and strategic) flavor in everything from new wave sodas to hemp drinks, including a guest appearance from my alter ego Nostradouglas with a prediction for craft beer.

1. Naturally Sweet, “Better For You”

The “better for you” soda craze, led by brands like Poppi and Olipop, both recently valued at $1.8 billion, is often framed as a reaction to the old-school soda giants like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper. Personally, I think it’s popularity stemmed from the other direction.

The sparkling water wave of the mid-2010s took our calorie intake down to zero with brands like La Croix, which used only essences. Spindrift’s nudged things forward by using real fruit and kicking the calories up to 8–12, but still left plenty of flavor potential on the table.

To me, these new health-conscious sodas are less a response to Coke and more a rebuttal to sparkling waters, showing what flavor can be if we’re willing to tolerate 25 to 45 calories. Even Spindrift themselves is following this trajectory having launched their own soda line earlier this year.

Not every fruit delivers the necessary flavor AND sweetness without the need to add sugar. But you know what does better than most? Grape.

2. Combining 90’s Flavor with 90’s Brand

While these modern sodas lean into classic flavors, Suja Life (parent company of Suja Organic and Vive Organic) acquired the IP for the brand Slice in May 2024. Originally founded in 1984, the reborn version of Slice “will feature real ingredients, only 5grams of sugar (or less), no high fructose corn syrup and features a Gutsy Blend™ of prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics” per their release. “Packed with innovative functional benefits, Slice brings soda drinkers a moment of joy that takes them back to carefree days.” While slice was known especially for it’s orange flavor in the 90s, they’re taking notice.

3. New Belgium Adds Alcohol

The creators of the hit Voodoo Ranger series and the new Lightstrike Hard Hydration drink aren’t going to let soda startups have all the fun, or the revenue. One of their newest launches appears to be directly inspired by that movement.