Innovation featuring cherry flavors is accelerating

KANSAS CITY — Flavors are returning to basics in 2026. Consumers want specific attributes from their food and beverage products, including a sense of nostalgia, natural colors and functionality, and one flavor capable of meeting these demands has risen to the top: cherry.

The trending flavor coincides with T. Hasegawa’s top flavor prediction for 2026. The company named dark sweet cherry as its top flavor of the year — a flavor the company had been tracking for the past three years.

“What we saw with dark cherry was that, three years ago, we started to see activity (with the flavor),” said Mark Webster, vice president of sales and marketing at T. Hasegawa USA. “…The search growth, like global searches for dark cherry, were up 36% year over year. Social media was up 44% year over year for dark cherry. Even things like Pinterest, (searches like) cherry vibe, dark cherry red, that family was up hundreds of percent. All fast-growing search terms.”

The uptick in products with a cherry-based flavor has been brewing over several months — particularly in the beverage category.

A sense of nostalgia

Nostalgia is expected to drive flavor choices for consumers in the next year, and several beverage manufacturers have already tapped into the trend. In November, The Coca-Cola Co. reintroduced its Mr. Pibb flavor, which offers a “bold kick of cherry flavor,” said Dane Callis, director of sparkling flavors at Coca-Cola North America. The reintroduction also featured an updated packaging that showcased its “signature maroon color.”

In December, PepsiCo, Inc. followed  with the announcement of the permanent return of the company’s wild cherry and cream flavor.

Webster suggested that the resurgence of cherry-based flavors meets the nostalgic element consumers are wanting from their beverages.

Alongside the resurgence of cherry-flavored sodas, several functional beverage companies are launching products with another flavor rising in popularity: Shirley Temple.

In September, actor Ben Stiller debuted a “clean” soda brand, Stiller’s Soda, which reimagined his favorite nostalgic flavors as a beverage with 30 calories per can. The initial line included such flavors as root beer, lemon lime and Shirley Temple.

“My love of soda goes way back, and for me it began with Shirley Temples,” Stiller said. “I think of me and my sister going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant with my parents and getting Shirley Temples. So much fun, and always so cool — like the grown-ups. The idea behind Stiller’s Soda was simple: bring back that same sense of nostalgia but make it work for today.”

Additionally, Suja Life relaunched and reimagined Slice Soda in June with the introduction of a cherry cola flavor.

“Today’s Slice is a ‘healthified’ version of the original, while tasting like pure nostalgia,” said Nicole Portwood, chief marketing officer at Suja Life.

Flavors and functionality

While some beverage companies are tapping into a sense of nostalgia, others are using nostalgia as a catalyst to meet the health demands of consumers — such as Stiller’s Soda’s low-calorie promise.

“(Cherry) is nostalgic, but it’s also got the health angle attached to, which sets it apart from (other nostalgic flavors) such as orange creamsicle or cotton candy,” Webster said.

Webster added that cherries contain “vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber” that supports functionality in beverages.

In July 2025, PepsiCo launched a prebiotic soda line with a cherry vanilla flavor, offering consumers the “cola experience, without sacrificing the iconic Pepsi taste,” said Ram Krishnan, chief executive officer of PepsiCo Beverages US.

Other functional cherry-flavored beverages introduced in 2025 included the launch of a cherry lime-flavored energy drink from food entrepreneur Alex Cooper’s Unwell Beverages, a black cherry and vanilla-flavored “better-for-you” beverage from children’s brand Oodles of Doodles, a Shirley Temple-flavored prebiotic soda from poppi and a glacier cherry-flavored low-sugar Gatorade from PepsiCo.

‘Visually stunning’

With a distinct and vibrant red color, cherry flavor offers an appealing aesthetic that elevates the experience for consumers.

“(Cherries) have that deep, luscious color, which I mean, it’s intriguing and it looks delicious,” Webster said. “It fits the health and well-being category, and they’re visually stunning.”

Another popular property to the cherry flavor is the variety of flavor pairings it’s capable of — regardless of the type of cherry.

Sweet dark cherry, T. Hasegawa’s flavor prediction for 2026, is already present in recently launched beverages.

The cherry berry protein smoothie from Tropical Smoothie blends dark cherries, strawberries, cranberries and almonds. Culture Pop Soda also recently launched a sparkling black cherry-flavored beverage.

Other trending flavor pairings include cherry lime, cherry vanilla and cherries and cream.

“There are a lot of ideas people can put together with cherry,” Webster said. “It marries well with other flavors.”

The cherry flavor is going strong into 2026, but can it keep its momentum? Webster said he doesn’t see the flavor slowing down anytime soon.

“Although cherry is a summer fruit, it has its winter appeal, too,” he said. “I see it as a year-long flavor. I would hope to see it emerge as something that stands out as we go through 2026 — I don’t see it ending.”