Customers at Sonic Drive-In have literally billions of options when it comes to beverages. Counting all the fountain sodas, coffee and tea, lemonades and limeades, slushes, and the new refreshers, all customizable with syrups, fruit purées, sweet cream, sometimes boba, and even Nerds candy, the combinations really are nearly infinite.
“Beverages have always been a core part of the Sonic experience,” said director of category management Ashlee Gustin. “We’ve built a really strong history over many, many decades now, while also giving guests the freedom to create something completely their own.”
If you want a Coke with banana pudding flavor, coconut syrup, jalapeño peppers, and pickles, you can do that.
But there are also curated options such as the Twisted Flamingo (Sprite, cherry vanilla, and sweet cream) and the Shark Bite (Sprite, blue coconut, vanilla, and strawberry pieces).
The chain’s Cherry Limeade has a cult following, and even the chain’s signature pebble ice has a legion of loyal fans.
“Over the past 12 months, we sold almost 78 million pounds of our pebble ice,” Gustin said. And that’s by the 10-pound bag, not including all of the ice that goes into the drinks, or available by the cup for around 59 cents.
“We do sell a lot of standard soft drinks, but we also get a lot of customization options,” she said.
That involves a fair amount of training, with monthly sessions by corporate as well as individual training as needed in the restaurants.
Beverage innovation is fairly continuous at the chain, and it’s generally ahead of the curve. It started offering dirty sodas in March 2024, it offers popping boba on a rotating basis, and in March of this year it rolled out green-tea-based Refreshers, available in still and sparkling options. In May it started offering a frozen option for them.
“We always lead with our guests. We really home in on what makes sense for them and how we can take current trends and make them feel uniquely and intentionally Sonic,” Gustin said.
Of course, operations also are involved in beverage development.
“We work very closely with our ops and training partners on anything that we innovate on to make sure it makes sense operationally [in the] back of house,” she said. “So we can make sure we can get them out and have the best product delivered to our guests.”
Sonic also likes to offer beverages tied to cultural moments, like the 2024 solar eclipse, for which it introduced the Blackout Slush Float, a black colored slush base with cotton candy and dragon fruit flavors topped with soft serve and sugar sprinkles, sold with eclipse-viewing glasses.
And this past summer, for the United States’ 250th anniversary, it brought back the Red, White & Blue Slush Float, which layered blue raspberry slush with vanilla soft serve and strawberries.
“We like to find some of those key moments in culture,” Gustin said, “and craft some really fun beverages that tie along to it.”
