Discontinued Gatorade Flavors You'll Never Drink Again

Since its inception, Gatorade has been the preeminent sports drink among athletes. Thanks to its tasty flavor and reasonable price, it's equally popular with the masses, too. Sold on multiple continents, Gatorade has a global presence, and its popularity doesn't appear to be waning any time soon. Perhaps part of what has made it so successful is its flexibility. The sports drink brand is constantly adapting and finding ways to stay relevant, whether it's rebranding or partnering with a celebrity.

Gatorade remains interesting thanks to another classic business technique. Currently, Gatorade has dozens of flavors, and every so often it announces a new offering. While the buzz is good for business, the creation of a new flavor often comes at the expense of another type of Gatorade. Over more than 50 years in business, Gatorade has discontinued several flavors. Many people enjoyed them while they existed, but now they're nothing more than a distant memory. Let's pay homage to the discontinued Gatorade flavors you'll never drink again.

By and large, Americans are not a healthy group of people. A study conducted from 2009 to 2016 determined that only one in every eight American people "is achieving optimal metabolic health." During those same years, Gatorade discontinued its Naturals line of products. It had been created in an effort to meet the demands of consumers, as American people were seemingly growing concerned with health and fitness, particularly with the ingredients contained in their food and drinks. However, per PepsiCo's findings, after speaking with athletes regarding what they were seeking in a beverage, the Naturals drinks did not fit in with their needs.

The decision couldn't have been seen as that surprising since the health of Gatorade products has long been questioned. The company currently sells Gatorade Fit, a line that's supposed to be healthier than the regular sports drink. It too has been doubted for being as healthy as it purports. Gatorade also sells various plant-based protein products and supplements on its website, including several offerings from Muscle Milk and Evolve, and it has its own line of protein powder and bars. We'll let you be the judge on the health status of Gatorade products.

Sometimes it's easy to see why a product is discontinued. Gatorade once sold the flavor Alpine Snow as part of its Frost line, and the feedback on the particular drink was horrendous. In 1997, Chicago Tribune conducted a test of its own to see which Gatorade flavors local children preferred, using regular ones and some from the Frost line. The kids narrowly chose regular Gatorade as the winner, but they unanimously decided that Alpine Snow was a terrible flavor. 

Other internet users seem to agree with the children. "I never could figure out what I was tasting, it was just a water-colored bitter-tasting atrocity," another consumer noted of the Alpine Snow flavor. While there had to have been some people who liked it, the negative feedback was enough for Gatorade to rid shelves across America of all Frost Alpine Snow.

Gatorade Frost, though, is a largely successful line of products. To this day, there are a variety of flavors that can be found online and in stores, like Riptide Rush, Summit Storm, Arctic Blitz, and Glacier Freeze. We can't even begin to guess whether these flavors will be discontinued or not, but for now, customers can still enjoy those frosty delights.

It's hard to keep up with which products have been discontinued and which are still in circulation. We're not sure how Gatorade employees keep up with it either, and considering how often the company's social media team has to field complaints and questions from customers missing a particular flavor, we wouldn't be surprised to learn that tracking the flavor list and replying to said comments is a full-time job for multiple people. 

Lemon Ice's discontinuation had Gatorade's social media team on its toes. Fans were disappointed, forcing the company to comment several times on the status of the product. One Facebook post notified a user that the citrusy flavor was a limited-time-only product, but it hinted that a return wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.

Gatorade also noted on Twitter that lemon Ice had been discontinued, but this time it noted which flavors the company had manufactured in replacement. However, that tweet was posted in 2017, and since Gatorade seems to change flavors like most people change clothes, those flavor suggestions have also been discontinued. We're learning it's best not to get too attached.

There are dozens of potential reasons a flavor might go extinct. It could be poor marketing or bad taste. We also theorized that a flavor's name could contribute to its staying power, but after Starfruit Gatorade was discontinued, our theory was debunked. Even though customers knew exactly what flavor they were purchasing, it wasn't enough to keep Starfruit alive. 

While the brand still sells loads of different fruity flavors, none are quite as unique as the bygone tropical taste. Fans of the flavor have noted on social media that they'd like to see its return, but the Gatorade group hasn't said anything aside from its standard response that it'll relay the message to the right people.

Although this flavor wasn't powerful enough to stay in Gatorade's lineup, it still made a major impact on some customers. "It inspired me to try actual starfruit," one patron said, adding "but unfortunately actual starfruit is horrible." Whether you agree with their opinion or not, it's remarkable that Gatorade could prompt someone to take such action. We'd love to see Gatorade come out with a line of fruits that are lesser-known to Americans as it might spark others to try new fruits as well.

If there's a brand that's gone through more product line names than Gatorade, we'd like to know. The sports drink company has had collections including Rain, Frost, Prime, Recover, Bring It, Shine On, No Excuses, and many, many more. Not all have stood the test of time, including the Ice drinks. After existing for a few years, Gatorade Ice was rebranded, and eventually, the product was rebranded yet again. The point is, flavors like strawberry Ice got lost in the shuffle, never to be purchased by American consumers again.

While we sympathize with fans of strawberry Ice for their loss, Gatorade rarely eliminates a flavor without replacing it with something similar or reminding customers that there's an existing flavor with a similar profile. In the case of strawberry Ice, there has almost always been a strawberry flavor available, and there's no shortage of strawberry flavors now. Currently, Gatorade sells over a dozen products — drinks, energy chews, and protein powder — that include strawberry in the flavor, like Fast Twitch strawberry lemonade, Thirst Quencher strawberry kiwi, and for the strawberry purists, Gatorade Fierce strawberry. There's no shortage of this red berry flavor in the Gatorade collection.

If there's a flavor that every drink brand in existence has tried out, it might be tropical punch. The fruity flavor includes notes of fruits from tropical climates, often pineapple, orange, and, for whatever reason, cherry. Its ubiquity is likely the reason many brands try it out, but it could also precisely be the reason it failed for Gatorade. Why sell the exact same flavor as everybody else? Whatever the reason for it landing on the chopping block, Gatorade tropical punch is no more, which would be profoundly sadder if it weren't available from the thousands of other brands.

Still, some customers have tried to sway Gatorade into bringing it back, seemingly preferring its tropical punch to everyone else's. Via an exchange on Twitter, Gatorade's social media team took the feedback, although it didn't hint at a return as it has for so many others. It did, however, note that Gatorade still has plenty of tropical flavors such as tropical mango, which comes in three different varieties. Fans can also purchase Thirst Quencher tropical cooler if tropical mango doesn't suffice.