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Wegmans is discontinuing its popular private-label soda, known by fans as “WPOP,” because of concerns over artificial ingredients.
The company’s “Food You Feel Good About” banner stands for no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. “We are discontinuing Wegmans Brand Soda because it contains artificial ingredients like aspartame and high fructose corn syrup. We are committed to our mission of helping customers live healthier, better lives through exceptional food, and we want you to feel confident in our Wegmans Brand products,” the New York-based grocer said in a statement.
Signs have been posted across stores with a similar message. No other private-label products are affected, and Wegmans will still sell sodas from third-party brands.
The soda, initially branded as WPOP, debuted with great fanfare in 1991 with commercials featuring catchy jingles and choreographed dance scenes supporting the soda’s “It’s Dynamite” slogan.
Priced well below major soda brands and coming in a wide range of flavors, WPOP has become a Wegmans’ staple, and many fans expressed their disappointment on social media. One customer tweeted, “The news today is making me think about WPOP—I think almost every single holiday family snapshot from my childhood features at least one person holding a root beer or a lemon-lime.”
Many felt Wegmans made the move for profit rather than health reasons. One Wegmans’ shopper tweeted, “WPOP has been on the market for well over 25 years+. And now they are just finding out something is amiss. Something stinks!!” Another wrote on Redditt, “If Wegmans is so concerned for my health, then what about all the other crap they sell.”
One critic of the decision wrote on Facebook, “Should let the customer decide if it’s healthy enough for them or not.”
Still, a minority praised the move. One Wegmans shopper told 13 WHAM, “One of the main reasons I don’t drink soda is because of the unhealthy effects of it. So, the fact that they’re pulling it speaks volumes as to why people shouldn’t be drinking it.”
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Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Do you find Wegmans’ move to discontinue its store brand for health reasons commendable or hypocritical? Should a grocer have different standards for its own brands than third-party brands?
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A lot of store brand soda tastes awful. Wegmans was always the exception: like most of its products, the flavor of its soda was pretty nice. That said, it contains bad ingredients, so it is not surprising that the product is being withdrawn. More generally, soda sales are declining – especially in the mainstream part of the market – so it’s probably not worth reformulating and launching a new line. Wegmans has pushed into growth areas like functional and energy drinks so still has a strong presence in own-label beverage.
There is always the obvious reason (we do the right thing) and there are the real reasons (we can’t compete with national brands, consumption of soda is declining, the stuff is dangerous to one’s health). Pick it!
First, that WPOP ad is magnificent.
Pulling this private label helps Wegmans keep its brand promise of good-for-you choices.
High standards for private labels can differentiate grocers with quality, innovation and responsiveness to consumer demand. A grocer’s name is on its private label products, so it makes sense to adopt high standards to deepen trust and loyalty.
I really wish I hadn’t watched that Wegmans commercial because now I can’t get that song out of my head. Wooo!
I am not going to second guess Wegmans on the reason it is discontinuing WPOP soda because bad ingredients is reason enough for me. Sure, customers who claim WPOP is their favorite brand are not going to be happy, but sometimes decisions have to be made for us.
With the continued decline of soda sales to alternative drinks, some of which are portrayed as more healthy, this is an opportunity for Wegmans to make a statement. I wouldn’t read much more into it.
It’s a good move by Wegmans to discontinue the private brand sodas. But better alignment to their “Food You Feel Good About” strategy should not only be about removing products. There may be opportunities to add SKUs to the healthier side of the beverage category such as 12 packs of flavored seltzer water to provide healthy value in an adjacent category.
Discontinuing its store brand of soda for health reasons — while still selling name brands of soda — is obviously hypocritical. Perceptive shoppers will understand this. Harmful ingredients are harmful ingredients, no matter what the brand.
Retailers and CPG’s constantly review their product portfolios based on a number of KPI measures to include ingredients and social concerns. In this case, I’m sure Wegmans looked at all the indicators and felt it was the right time to make the move. Soon, I’m sure this void will be filled with a new, exciting ‘good for you’ product choice.
Uhmmm…..wouldn’t it make more sense to reformulate them , rather than discontinue them ?? I’ll not give it further thought, but it sounds like a rare miss from Wegmans.