• by Danielle Oster , May 29, 2024

Wellness company Suja Life has acquired the Slice brand, with plans to revive the nostalgic fruit soda as a better-for-you product in 2025. Details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The relaunch is planned with a “fresh look” as well as reformulated ingredient profile, according to the company. In a release announcing the news, Suja Life wrote that “the flavors and taste profile will resemble the classic, nostalgic sodas people know and love,” from Slice, while “not just be an all-natural, low-calorie soda, but one that delivers advantages for gut health with superior nutrition, function and taste.”

Slice is already showcased on Suja Life’s website with a message promising a “glow up” for visitors’ “favorite childhood soda,” and inviting them to sign up with their email to be notified about future news.

The relaunch arrives roughly 40 years after Slice was first introduced by Pepsi in 1984.  PepsiCo started phasing out the brand shortly after the turn of the century, according to Wikipedia.

A company owned by Chicago entrepreneur Mark Thomann called New Slice Ventures acquired the brand in 2018, with plans to partner with another of Thomann’s ventures, Dormitus Brands, to relaunch Slice as a lower calorie soda sweetened with fruit juice, according to reporting by the Chicago Tribune.

The move follows Suja Life’s 2022 acquisition of “immunity boost” shots brand Vive Organic, and will expand the company’s better-for-you drinks portfolio, which also includes its flagship Suja Organic brand, following its launch. Suja also recently expanded into the protein drink category for the first time.

The Slice acquisition reflects the parent company’s growth strategy under new CEO Maria Stipp, who joined the company from Stone Brewing to replace the retiring Bob DeBorde in the role this past February.