For decades, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo dominated the soda market, with rivals fighting for a distant third place.

In the soda space, Keurig Dr Pepper has become the clear number three, and Dr Pepper itself has surpassed Sprite to become the number two best-selling soda behind Coca-Cola, leaving Pepsi in fourth place.

While “Dr Pepper has been gaining, [Pepsi] has been declining, and they’re meeting in the middle,” said Duane Stanford, editor of Beverage Digest, in an interview with CNN, ABC7 reported.

Top-selling sodas in the United States

  • Coca‑Cola Classic: About 19.2 % of the U.S. carbonated soft-drink market (2024 data)
  • Dr Pepper: Roughly 8.7 %market share in 2025
  • Sprite: About 8.03 % of U.S. soda volume
  • Pepsi-Cola: Around 7.97% market share in the most recent data
  • Diet Coke: About 6-6.5 % share, rounding out the top-5 list in U.S. soft-drink rankings
    Sources: Accio, Beverage Digest, Visual Capitalist

Classic sodas, however, are facing a new challenge.

“Health-conscious trends and generational shifts continue to reshape preferences, with younger consumers driving demand for diet and functional options like Sprite and Diet Coke,” Accio reported.

That’s something PepsiCo has leaned into with its latest offering.

“PepsiCo is proud to introduce Pepsi Prebiotic Cola, the evolution of cola created to reflect the tastes and values of today’s cola lovers. This innovation includes 5 grams of cane sugar, has 30 calories, and contains no artificial sweeteners. It delivers the classic crisp, refreshing taste of Pepsi — with the added functional ingredient of 3 grams of prebiotic fiber,” Pepsi shared in a press release.

Coca-Cola owns juice, water, and energy drink brands, but it has not directly entered the prebiotic “healthier” soda market.

Instead, the company has released a holiday flavor for the first time in five years as a way to excite its customer base.

Coca-Cola adds new holiday flavors

Throughout its history, Coca-Cola has offered limited-time holiday flavors only on rare occasions. This year, the company has not only released a limited-time offer for the holiday season, but also introduced a new first-time flavor.

“Refresh your holidays with this limited-time flavor! Coca‑Cola Holiday Creamy Vanilla soda delivers the Coca‑Cola taste you love with a smooth, creamy vanilla flavor. Pop open a bottle, pour it over ice, and let the festive vibes flow,” Coca-Cola shared on its website.

The company is also offering a Zero Sugar version of Holiday Creamy Vanilla.

“Enjoy the bold taste of Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar Holiday Creamy Vanilla sodas with zero sugar and zero calories. Crisp and bubbly, these zero-sugar soft drinks let you enjoy creamy vanilla flavor without compromise,” it added.

Available Sizes:

  • Holiday Creamy Vanilla Fridge Pack Cans, 12 fl. oz., 12 pack
  • Holiday Creamy Vanilla Bottle, 20 fl. oz.
  • Holiday Creamy Vanilla Bottle, 2 liter
  • Holiday Creamy Vanilla Zero Sugar Fridge Pack Cans, 12 fl. oz., 12 pack
  • Holiday Creamy Vanilla Zero Sugar Bottle, 20 fl. oz.
Coca-Cola is competing with new rivals in the healthy soda space.

Pixabay

Coca-Cola fans don’t love it

Early reviews on the Snackolator Instagram page are not great.

“Tried it. It tastes exactly like Vanilla Coke,” Tyler050603 wrote.

That was one of the kinder responses.

“When Vanilla Coke buys a Halloween costume on clearance,” Beverage Champion wrote.

The_devil_can_scrap echoed those thoughts.

“Don’t waste your time. Tastes exactly like vanilla Coke,” they wrote.

TastingTable’s reviewer, Emily Hunt, was much kinder.

“The sugar version of this Coke holiday offering refrains from being overly sweet, and, most importantly, the vanilla flavor is readily apparent. I have to say I like this can of soda, even if I don’t necessarily agree with its holiday labeling. In fact, I might have to ask Coca-Cola to offer this flavor year-round,” she wrote.

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The Sodafry website was more mixed on the new flavor.

“Maybe it’s just Vanilla Coke? The can says that there’s no dairy in it, and the only cream I can taste is the equivalent of a cream soda. Which is just vanilla. Vanilla Coke is good, but it’s not different. To be extremely fair, I didn’t try the standard Vanilla Coke and this side-by-side, and there might be a subtlety that I missed,” the website shared.

Coca-Cola holiday and limited-edition flavors

  • Coca-Cola Holiday Creamy Vanilla: Coke introduced in 2025 as Coke’s first limited-edition holiday-flavored cola in five years. Available in regular and Zero Sugar versions.
  • Coca-Cola Holiday Creamy Vanilla Zero Sugar: The zero-calorie, zero-sugar counterpart to Holiday Creamy Vanilla.
    Source: Coca-Cola
  • Coca-Cola Cinnamon: Originally released in the U.S. in 2019 as a limited seasonal holiday flavor. It was also available again in 2020.
    Source: Drug Store News
  • Sprite Winter Spiced Cranberry: Though not classic “Coke,” this is part of the Coca-Cola Company’s beverage family; it’s a holiday-season Sprite flavor combining lemon-lime with cranberry and warm spice. First launched (as a successor to Sprite Cranberry) in 2019 and returns seasonally.
    Source: KMBC
  • Sprite Winter Spiced Cranberry Zero Sugar: Zero-sugar version of the winter Sprite flavor, offered alongside the regular version seasonally.
    Source: Share a Coke with Mom

Limited-time offers drive sales

Limited-time-offers are good for retailers and drive sales at convenience stores.

“At least half of c-store operators consider LTOs to be a central part of their offerings and are a good way to allow customers to try new drinks while adding value,” PepsiCo Chief Commercial Officer Bryan Santee told NACS Magazine. “People are very loyal to our PepsiCo brands, which means LTOs can leverage our equity to help partners boost sales while also delivering something new and exciting for our fans.”

Keurig Dr Pepper Senior Vice President Jeff Tabor also sees LTOs as a valuable sales driver.

“Introducing limited-time offerings like this summer’s Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut, a coconut-infused variation of the original 23 flavors, can help convenience-store operators increase cold vault conversion rates and overall incremental sales,” Tabor said.

LTOs also let brands try something new without the expense of a full launch.

“Limited-edition flavors allow consumers to experience new flavors in a familiar format with minimal risk,” Wixon Marketing Manager (St. Francis, Wis.) Rachael Jarzembowski told Food Business News.

Related: Coca-Cola brings back an iconic soda flavor ‘permanently’