Will this flavour become a regular fixture?

Gatorade sign in 7-Eleven store window, Vancouver, BC

Gatorade floor display in 7-Eleven store window, Vancouver, BC

It is common practice for brands and retailers to roll out new flavours as a limited edition experiment before committing to making the flavour a permanent addition to the line.

This sort of promotion can also be a way to direct traffic to particular retailers. The retailer agrees to buy a large volume of the new flavour and to devoting a chunk of floor and, in this case, window space to the flavour.

Consumers fall for "new" and snap up lots of bottles of the new flavour. If the flavour is a hit it often find a place in the regular line. And if it a disaster, the damage has been confined to a small number of retailers.

I'm not planning to buy any of this version of Gatorade, but I'm sure that lots of people will. Enough to ensure the flavour's long-term survival? Too early to tell, but I suspect not.