Dirty Soda is Here to Stay
Technology, Serving Solutions, Culinary
2025.03.01
Is dirty soda a fad or are enhanced sodas here to stay? Top chains including Dutch Bros Coffee, Jack in the Box, Sonic Drive-in Dirty Drinks, and even taco havens Del Taco and Taco Bell are adding examples to their menus while dedicated establishments are finding traction, pointing to longevityin the marketplace.
According to Technomic in their Why is Dirty Soda Suddenly Everywhere Report (January 2025), “At Top 500 chain restaurants, nonalcohol beverages are increasing at a greater rate year over year than all other meal parts. Furthermore, cold and frozen beverages in particular are driving this growth, with mentions increasing 10.1% and 8.4% over the past year respectively.” They note that multiple factors gathered from their Ignite Menu, Company and Consumer tools, explaining,” The dirty soda trend is here to stay and we’ll continue to see unique riffs on the trend from operators across the industry.”
Not only is there a range of food service venues offering dirty soda options, the retail food world has also acknowledged its growing popularity. Mega brand Coffee Mate is getting in on the trend with the first retail product dedicated to dirty sodas.
FAST FACTS
- TikTok, where it is claimed the trend took off nationally from its Utah based roots, saw a 609% increase in use of the hashtag #enhancedirtysoda on its platform in 2024 over 2023.*
- The original dirty soda was made from diet coke on ice, a shot of coconut, lime juice and half and half. While that may not sound delish to everyone, it was tantalizing enough to set off an interest in drinks that were something more than just soda, without adding alcohol. Today, combinations of cream, flavored syrup, soda, fruit and whatever else can be conjured up, are endless.
- Celeb partnerships - Sonic Drive-in partnered with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie to roll out a LTO with namesake dirty sodas.
SWIG: The Dirty Soda GOAT
SWIG is a Utah-based, dirty soda-focused chain that is probably the most recognizable. Started by Nicole Tanner in 2010, it has seen its growth jump in the past few years.
- Hit 100 stores spread across 14 states as of January 28, 2025
- In January of 2025, hired Todd Smith as CCO, formerly President of Sonic Drive-in
According to Technomic’s 2024 Top 5 Chain Restaurant Report, we’re seeing a huge boom in beverage-focused limited-service restaurants. Emerging concepts such as coffee-focused Ziggi’s Coffee and 7 Brew Drive Thru Coffee, as well as iced tea focused HTeaO and Swig all grew double digits in sales and units in 2023, while more established beverage chains, including Starbucks, Dunkin’, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Smoothie King, Scooter’s Coffee and Dutch Bros Coffee, also posted impressive numbers.
So get creative and join in on the dirty soda craze!
Source: Technomic ‘Why is Dirty Soda Suddenly Everywhere’, Jan 2025; Technomic 2024 Top 5 Chain Restaurant Report,*