Home Bargains found the new flavour, priced at £1.29 a can, and the drink is described by Coca-Cola as tasting of orange and vanilla
A new flavour of Coca-Cola has been spotted on the shelves of a popular UK store.
Home Bargains shoppers are divided after finding the new Orange Cream Coca-Cola flavour, priced at £1.29 a can. The drink is described by Coca-Cola as tasting of orange and vanilla – but fans aren’t quite sure what to make of it.
Commenting on a post on the NewfoodsUK Facebook group, one person said: “It tastes like spiced rum and coke rather than an instantly detectable orange flavour. But very nice all the same.” Another commented: “They just taste like Vanilla Coke.”
A third person commented: “If you want that flavour get Fanta and vanilla ice cream.” A fourth person added: “Had it in Vegas in April quite nice tbh [to be honest].”
It comes as Coca-Cola is reported to be considering a sale of the coffee chain Costa. The fizzy drinks brand acquired Costa from Premier Inn owner Whitbread in a £3.9billion deal back in 2018.
But reports from Sky News last week suggest that Coca-Cola has hired investment bank Lazard to oversee the deal. Some of these potential buyers reportedly include private equity firms – but it is not guaranteed that Coca-Cola will definitely go ahead with a deal.
Potential offers are reportedly due in early autumn. Costa has more than 2,000 stores in the UK, and over 3,000 globally. One analyst suggested Costa is currently valued at around £2billion, which means Coca-Cola would be taking a loss for the coffee chain.
James Quincey, Coca-Cola chief executive, said in a statement in 2018 when the brand purchased Costa: “Costa gives Coca-Cola new capabilities and expertise in coffee, and our system can create opportunities to grow the Costa brand worldwide.
“Hot beverages is one of the few segments of the total beverage landscape where Coca-Cola does not have a global brand. Costa gives us access to this market with a strong coffee platform.”
Last month in an earnings call, Mr Quincey revealed Coca-Cola was looking into Costa and what it wanted to do with the chain.
He said: “We’re in the mode of reflecting on what we’ve learned, thinking about how we might want to find new avenues to grow in the coffee category while continuing to run the Costa business successfully. It’s still a lot of money we put down, and we wanted that money to work as hard as possible.”
Financial records showed Costa recorded sales of £1.22billion, which is less than the £1.3billion made in 2018. Data for the years after 2023 have not been made publicly available.