Lilt
Discontinued European soft drink
title: "Lilt" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["british-soft-drink-brands", "carbonated-drinks", "coca-cola-brands", "fruit-sodas", "grapefruit-sodas", "irish-drinks", "pineapples", "products-introduced-in-1975", "products-and-services-discontinued-in-2023", "soft-drinks"] description: "Discontinued European soft drink" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilt" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Discontinued European soft drink ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox drink"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Lilt |
| logo | [[File:Lilt logo 2022.png |
| caption | Lilt Pineapple and Grapefruit |
| type | Soft drink |
| manufacturer | The Coca-Cola Company |
| origin | United Kingdom |
| introduced | 1974 |
| discontinued | 2023 (rebranded as Fanta Pineapple and Grapefruit) |
| ingredients | Carbonated water |
| Pineapple and grapefruit fruit juices from concentrate | |
| Citric acid | |
| Sodium citrate | |
| Aspartame | |
| Acesulfame K | |
| Saccharin | |
| website | (Great Britain) |
| ::
| name = Lilt | logo = [[File:Lilt logo 2022.png|125px]] | caption = Lilt Pineapple and Grapefruit | type = Soft drink | manufacturer = The Coca-Cola Company | origin = United Kingdom | introduced = 1974 | discontinued = 2023 (rebranded as Fanta Pineapple and Grapefruit) | ingredients = Carbonated water Pineapple and grapefruit fruit juices from concentrate Citric acid Sodium citrate Aspartame Acesulfame K Saccharin | website = (Great Britain)
(Ireland)|
Lilt was a brand of soft drink manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company and sold only in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Gibraltar.
History
From the 1970s until its dissolution in 2023, Lilt was promoted with the advertising slogan "totally tropical taste."
This famous catchphrase was created by Ken Howlett, who entered a magazine competition and won second prize, receiving a Boombox. The first prize was a trip to the Caribbean.
Between 2008 and 2014, The Coca-Cola Company reduced the number of calories in the drink by 56% as part of its efforts to make healthier products in response to the British Government's Public Health Responsibility Deal. The amount of sugar was also reduced alongside the addition of artificial sweeteners (aspartame, acesulfame K and saccharin).
One advertisement in the late 1980s featured the "Lilt Man", a parody of a milkman, delivering Lilt in a "Lilt float", with a song bearing the lyrics "Here comes the Lilt Man." In the late 1990s, it was heavily promoted with advertisements featuring two Jamaican women, Blanche Williams and Hazel Palmer, with one advert parodying a Levi's advert. They became known in the media as the "Lilt Ladies".
In February 2023, it was announced that the Lilt brand would be discontinued, with the drink being fully absorbed into the Fanta brand as 'Fanta Pineapple & Grapefruit' in all markets. The rebranded drink became available from 14 February.
Contrary to claims made by various news outlets, Lilt has never been sold in the Seychelles.
Products
::data[format=table] | Name | Year launched | Notes | |---|---|---| | Lilt Pineapple and Grapefruit | 1974 | Original flavour. Became Fanta Pineapple & Grapefruit in 2023. | | Lilt Zero Pineapple and Grapefruit | 1987 | Sugar-free version of the original Lilt. Previously known as "Diet Lilt" (1987–2000s), "Lilt Light" (2000s–2005) and "Lilt Z" (2005–2006). Became Fanta Pineapple & Grapefruit Zero Sugar in 2023. | | Lilt Mango and Mandarin | 1996 | Mango and Mandarin flavoured variety. Discontinued in the early 2000s. | | Lilt Banana and Peach | 2003 | Banana and Peach flavoured variety. Discontinued in the mid-2000s. | | Lilt Mango Flavour | 2011 | Mango flavoured variety. Was exclusively sold in cans at most newsagents and independent convenience stores. Discontinued in 2015. | ::
References
References
- (9 September 2009). "UK Coca Cola adopts color coded labeling with nutritional information". MercoPress.
- (13 February 2023). "Lilt drink brand to be scrapped after 50 years and rebranded". BBC News.
- Leonard-Bedwell, Niamh. "Lilt axed by Coca-Cola after nearly 50 years".
- "Lilt pulled from shelves after 48 years, replaced by Fanta Pineapple and Grapefruit". The Irish Times.
- "Lilt has vanished from UK, rebranded as a totally tropical Fanta".
- "Coca-Cola - our brands". The Coca-Cola Company.
- "Sey-Brew | Our brands".
- (3 July 2003). "Redesign of Lilt drink in the can". Design Week.
- "UK Food & Drink Industry news & events, seminars, and conferences.".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::