Overview
Coca-Cola Cherry (originally marketed and still commonly referred to as Cherry Coke) is a cherry-flavored version of Coca-Cola. It is produced and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company and its bottlers in the United States and some international markets.
History
Long before its official introduction in stores in 1985, many diners, movie theaters and drugstore soda fountains dispensed an unofficial version by adding cherry-flavored syrup to Coca-Cola.
The Coca-Cola Company first began testing its official Cherry flavored version of Coke along with other flavors on audiences visiting the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. Cherry Coke then entered mainstream production in the U.S. during the summer of 1985. Cherry Coke, which by 2007 had been renamed Coca-Cola Cherry in the U.S. and some other countries, was the third variation of Coca-Cola at that time – the others being regular Coca-Cola and Diet Coke – and the first flavored Coke. Cherry Coke was released nationally around the same time as the controversial New Coke, and gained significant market share when that product was widely (but not entirely) discontinued in the early 1990s. Diet Cherry Coke was introduced in 1986, and renamed "Diet Coke Cherry" in 2005 and again to "Diet Coke Feisty Cherry" in 2018. A second low-calorie version, Coca-Cola Cherry Zero (based on Coca-Cola Zero), was added in 2007. The Coca-Cola Company later introduced other flavored Coke variants, beginning with Vanilla Coke in May 2002, later followed by lime, raspberry, lemon, black cherry vanilla and orange variants. Many of these are currently only sold in overseas markets and/or are microdispensed through Coca-Cola's Freestyle vending machines.
International distribution
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