PepsiCo Beverages North America is extending its flavored-cola portfolio into the holiday season with the nationwide rollout of Pepsi Vanilla & Cream and Pepsi Zero Sugar Vanilla & Cream, a limited-time offering hitting retail and foodservice channels beginning October 19.
The LTO is available in 12-pack cans and 20 oz. bottles — the latter format a direct play for fountain-adjacent impulse and grab-and-go occasions at QSR, convenience, and fast-casual accounts. Both Original and Zero Sugar varieties are in the market simultaneously, giving operators a sugar-free upsell option at the same SKU introduction.
Flavored Cola as a Holiday Daypart Play
The launch extends a cream-soda hybridization trend PepsiCo has been developing within the Pepsi trademark. Pepsi Wild Cherry & Cream and Pepsi Zero Sugar Wild Cherry & Cream preceded this drop, and Pepsi Vanilla & Cream follows the same dual-variant playbook. For operators building seasonal beverage programs, the tactic mirrors what the broader non-alcoholic beverage segment has pursued aggressively: flavor-forward LTOs timed to high-traffic holiday periods to drive incremental volume without permanent menu commitment.
Industry data cited by PepsiCo points to meaningful consumer receptivity: three in four consumers say they are willing to try new beverages during the holidays, according to Beverage Industry's 2025 holiday trend analysis. That behavioral window creates a short but defensible opening for operators to feature a new pour without the risk of a year-round menu addition.
Operator and Channel Context
"If you're looking to indulge in a little treat this season, Pepsi Vanilla & Cream brings rich vanilla and smooth cream flavors to the unmistakable taste of Pepsi for something that feels nostalgic, new and undeniably delicious," said Gustavo Reyna, Vice President of Marketing, Pepsi. The nostalgia framing matters on the foodservice side: vanilla-cream flavor profiles have outperformed in dessert-adjacent dayparts, particularly in late-afternoon and evening occasions where indulgence messaging resonates.
For chain beverage directors and independent operators alike, the practical question is placement. The 20 oz. bottle format slots cleanly into cooler doors and meal-deal bundles, while 12-pack cans are better suited to catering, breakroom, and event-service channels. PepsiCo's broader $94 billion revenue portfolio gives it the distribution muscle to execute simultaneous national placement — a capability that shapes how competing beverage suppliers respond to holiday LTO windows.
The Vanilla & Cream drop also lands as the non-alcoholic beverage category continues to prioritize permissible indulgence, with zero-sugar variants increasingly critical to incremental volume. Operators sourcing through broadline distributors should confirm holiday inventory availability early, as LTO SKUs from major NAB suppliers have historically faced allocation constraints in Q4. For more on holiday beverage programming trends, see our coverage of seasonal menu strategy in foodservice.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
