Fast-food chains are chasing the specialty drink – Business News
As restaurant chains more and more flip to specialty drinks to draw clients past the conventional meal, Sonic Drive-In believes a business model constructed round drink customization offers it a head begin.
Marion Campbell, Sonic’s vice president of built-in advertising and communications, informed FOX Business that the quick-service restaurant industry continues to be determining how to make specialty drinks a greater half of its business, whereas Sonic has spent years building customization into its operations.
“I think that the market is just getting started. And QSR in particular is just figuring out a way to serve these types of beverages to their guests and make it a pivotal part of their DNA. It’s already a part of our DNA,” Campbell mentioned.
The competitors for beverage clients comes as restaurant manufacturers experiment with specialty drinks, customization and limited-time flavors to present shoppers further causes to go to. Rival fast-food chains McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Jack in the Box every offer their own variations of soiled sodas.
Sonic Drive-In is crushing the fast-food drink recreation, leveraging its long-standing customization model to outpace rivals in the booming specialty beverage market. wolterke – stock.adobe.com
The nonalcoholic beverage market generated $264.1 billion in shopper spending at US foodservice institutions in 2025, accounting for 23% of industry-wide gross sales, in response to knowledge from Technomic. The knowledge additionally confirmed that cold beverage spending in 2025 climbed 3.4%, in contrast with a 1.2% rise for warm drinks, with Technomic saying that “innovation and consumer preference are driving cold beverages to the forefront of market growth.”
For Sonic – which operates more than 3,400 eating places and generates $5.2 billion in annual system gross sales – drinks can deliver clients via its drive-ins even once they aren’t on the lookout for a burger, scorching canine or different full meal.
“A beverage-only guest is a very frequent guest. So beverage is always going to play a pivotal role because of the frequency it drives for the business versus just a check driver,” Campbell mentioned.
She added that drinks also can increase how a lot a buyer purchases when paired with food.
The company’s customization infrastructure has additionally allowed the chain to capitalize on the recognition of soiled sodas, which generally mix soda with additions reminiscent of cream and flavored syrups.
Sonic’s customization prowess allowed it to dominate the “dirty soda” trend, which exploded with a 318% gross sales bounce at quick-service eating places. Getty Images
The soiled soda trend has exploded over the previous two years, with case quantity at quick-service eating places leaping 318% during that time, in response to knowledge from market analysis firm Circana.
“I think dirty sodas is a place we’ve actually played long before they were really deemed dirty sodas,” Campbell mentioned.
Campbell mentioned Sonic was positioned to capitalize on the trend as a result of clients had been already accustomed to customizing drinks at its eating places.
The chain is now utilizing that platform to experiment with new flavors and seasonal merchandise, together with its just lately launched fall-inspired lineup and banana-flavored choices.
The strategy comes as shoppers stay delicate to restaurant costs, forcing chains to stability novelty and indulgence with worth.
Campbell mentioned beverage pricing can differ extensively, from an on a regular basis carbonated tender drink to more elaborate specialty choices, and argued that customers will be prepared to spend more for an expertise they contemplate distinctive.
Sonic’s newest seasonal advertising push additionally illustrates how the company is attempting to translate beverage experimentation into buyer site visitors.
Sonic’s seasonal beverage lineup is featured in the chain’s “Hotumn” marketing campaign highlighting customizable fall-inspired drinks. Sonic
The chain created a marketing campaign round “Hotumn,” its title for the period when shoppers start embracing fall flavors and clothes at the same time as temperatures stay scorching, significantly in Sonic’s core Southern markets. The marketing campaign is scheduled to run for about 4 weeks.
Looking additional forward, Campbell expects clients’ urge for food for personalization to proceed shaping the beverage business.
“Again, customization’s not going anywhere. It’s been here forever. People like to be in control of the flavors they consume. They like to feel like they’re the creator, and they have that ability,” Campbell mentioned.
She additionally pointed to flavored water as an space with room for added experimentation as shoppers search for customizable drinks past conventional tender drinks.
Sonic has more beverage ideas in development, in response to Campbell, though she declined to reveal what the company plans to introduce subsequent.
