Pepsi Kona
Gone. Pepsi test-marketed Kona in Philadelphia from May 1996 and dropped it in 1997 after weak sales, without ever launching it nationally. Pepsi Café, the coffee cola PepsiCo announced in 2019, was a new product, not a return.
Last verified Nov 1, 2026
Cola blended with real Kona coffee, for people who wanted their caffeine twice. Pepsi tried it in Philadelphia and nowhere else in 1996, and it never made it past the city limits.
Filed under: Drinks & Sodas · the ’90s
📅 Timeline
- 1996In late May, Pepsi Kona went on sale in the Philadelphia area only, as a test market.
- 1996In early June, Pepsi said it had not decided whether to take Kona national.
- 1997Pepsi discontinued Kona after a year of low sales in the test.
- 2019In December, PepsiCo announced Pepsi Café, a new cola-and-coffee blend, more than two decades after Kona.
❓ People also ask
Why was Pepsi Kona discontinued?
It did not sell. Pepsi tested it in Philadelphia for about a year from 1996 and dropped it in 1997 because of low sales, so it never reached the rest of the country.
Why was Pepsi Kona only sold in Philadelphia?
Pepsi marketing manager Lori Tauber Marcus said the city was chosen because Pepsi was strong there, it was close to the company's headquarters in Westchester County, New York, and it let Pepsi test a coffee drink outside the coffee-mad Northwest.
Did Pepsi Kona contain real coffee?
Yes. A Pepsi spokesman said in 1996 that it was made with real coffee, a blend that included beans from Hawaii's Kona district.
🧾 Sources
- Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Pepsi brews cola with a Kona-coffee twist (1996)
- Food Business News, PepsiCo unveils new cola blended with coffee (2019)