Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LILT HAS BEEN pulled from the shelves after 48 years and will be replaced by a new type of Fanta.
The tangy drink began in 1975 with the strapline “The Totally Tropical Taste” and was only sold in the UK, Ireland, Gibraltar and the Seychelles.
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) confirmed the change in a statement, noting that the drink’s packaging and logo are being changed and it will now be known as Fanta Pineapple and Grapefruit.
CCEP said: “Keen Lilt fans may have spotted a gradual transition as the drink has made its way into the Fanta family over the past few months, with changes to its packaging and logo.
“Some have even hypothesised on social media that Lilt may be becoming part of the Fanta brand, and one even went as far as producing their own news broadcast-style video.”
The firm’s vice-president of commercial development insisted the drink is the same, and simply has a new name.
Martin Attock said: “Our main priority with this announcement is to reassure Lilt’s loyal fanbase that absolutely nothing has changed when it comes to the iconic taste of the drink they know and love.
“It’s still bursting with tangy tropical flavours, it’s just got itself a new name.”
Lilt became a feature of popular culture with its Lilt Man parody adverts in the late 1980s, while a decade later it was promoted by two Jamaican women known as the Lilt Ladies.
Coca-Cola reduced the number of calories, sugar and artificial sweeteners in the drink between 2008 and 2014 as part of efforts to make healthier products in response to the Government’s Public Health Responsibility Deal.
The new drink will be available from today.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Lilt was delicious, but you could really tell when they started changing the formula. The flavour wasn’t as intense and it lost a lot of its ‘punch’. There was nothing of note about it after that.
I know it’s for our health but soft drinks just haven’t been the same since they reduced the level of sugar. They are flat and boring. I never drank much, but did like the occasional bottle or can. Now it’s a very rare day when I have something. It’s just not worth it. The sweeteners just taste awful.
@Liam Coyle: The sugar is being replaced with Aspartame which certainly isnt healthy. In fact experts say it’s worse than sugar.
@Ruairi Colton: Internet experts do, actual experts don’t
@Ruairi Colton: I didn’t know that regular Coke contains artificial sugars. Got that off Facebook did ya?
@Ruairi Colton: Well if you actually read proper peer reviewed information you would find that your statement is untrue. Although everyone is “experts” these days.
@Ruairi Colton: https://www.healthline.com/health/aspartame-side-effects
I like Lilt,
Remember it as being delicious as a kid but it got increasingly hard to get and I can’t remember the last time I saw it being marketed. Looks like they slowly killed it themselves.
…..for that totally tropical taste…!!!
Loved that add
Always better out of a can. Never as nice from a bottle.
@Cian Nolan: 100% Cian. Same for all fizzy drinks in my opinion.
Enda Kenny will be devastated. His favourite .
Was LILT the Limerick or Leitrim Institute for Lateral Thinking?
Tropical Blast from Aldi is better than lilt, there I said it. Come at me!
I liked it. But wasn’t there a rumour it lowered mens sperm count? Was that true?
@Madra: Haha! I’d love to know where that came from. Who first noticed a correlation?
@Madra: A here, it’s Valentine’s Day
@Madra: True; gimps like you should not have kids.
@FliepFlap: too late, we had you son.
@JusticeForJoe: definitely a rumour started by teenagers I suspect….
@kevin mc cormack: best time to have a lower sperm count
@Madra: Yes that’s true, total gridlock of the sperm
Used to get a can of it in our stockings every year…a totally tropical Christmas!
Sugary gunk
I miss the advert
Can we get proper Orange Fanta in Ireland too. They make it taste like Club Orange here but it has a spicy taste elsewhere
@Craic_a_tower: Fanta is different in nearly every country around the world where they bought out a local manufacturer at the time and left the recipe alone to cater for local tastes.
@Craic_a_tower: Sure Fanta orange has a third the orange Club has.
@Longlin: not true here as it is made by the Coca Cola plant here. They do vary the taste in markets but it is consistent on the continent
@Craic_a_tower: That’s because most people prefer Club Orange!
@Longlin: Yeah. Mexican Fanta is like fluorescent nuclear orange. Good though!
I, for one, have been holding my breath in anxious anticipation for this very annaouncement. I hope it gets the coverage it deserves from all the media outlets, and not just the redrag ones.
Why can’t all our news be like this?
Ah the old days when you asked the shopkeeper for a Tin of Minerals .
It’s called Hawaii in some parts of the world.
Here comes the lilt man
have your say