IRVING, Texas -- 7-Eleven Inc. is bringing back Sour Patch Watermelon as a flavor variety on its Slurpee machine. The drink is the most popular limited-time offer (LTO) in the history of the Slurpee and will be available at participating 7-Eleven stores through February 2018, or while supplies last.
In 2015, 7-Eleven introduced the first Sour Patch Watermelon Slurpee flavor, which became the first featured LTO frozen-carbonated-beverage (FCB) flavor to become the top seller ahead of the two perennial favorites, cherry and cola.
“Slurpee lovers really, really love Sour Patch Kids candy,” said Sean Thompson, 7-Eleven's vice president of marketing and acquisition integration. “We first approached Mondelez International about creating a Sour Patch Kids Slurpee flavor after learning on social media that Slurpee fans were already enjoying them [by adding] the sour candy to their favorite Slurpee drink. Sour Patch Watermelon flavor was a huge hit then, and we expect Slurpee and Sour Patch Kids lovers will be just as excited to try it this go-round.”
Mondelez International’s Sour Patch Kids is the No. 1 sour candy brand, and a top-selling candy at 7-Eleven stores, the retailer said. To leverage the flavor’s popularity among its customers, 7-Eleven is also featuring Sour Patch Watermelon as an exclusive flavor of 7-Select Soda crafted by Jones Soda Co., as well as in 2- and 5-ounce bags of the packaged Sour Patch candy.
Based in Irving, Texas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 64,000 stores in 18 countries, including 10,900 in North America.