Kool-Aid is about to turn 100.
It's also about to chase Liquid I.V.
Parent company Kraft Heinz is launching Kool-Aid Hydration, single-serve electrolyte sticks with no sugar and no artificial dyes. The plan: come in cheaper than Gatorade and Liquid I.V. and ride a category that's tripled in five years.
A Cheaper Bet On Electrolytes
The U.S. powder concentrate market - everything from Kool-Aid to LMNT - has grown past $4.6 billion in sales, per Euromonitor. The category has more than tripled in size over the past five years.
Most of that growth came from single-serve electrolyte sticks made popular by Liquid I.V., which Unilever now owns. PepsiCo has joined the party with single-serve packs from Gatorade and Propel, and smaller upstarts like LMNT and podcaster Alex Cooper's Unwell Hydration have carved out their own corners.
Kraft Heinz's pitch is price and approachability. A six-pack of Kool-Aid Hydration sticks will sell for about $4.99, several dollars cheaper than the same size pack from Gatorade or Liquid I.V.
Caroline Boulos, who runs hydration, desserts, and meals at Kraft Heinz, said many current options taste "too salty or bitter" and feel "very performance driven." Kool-Aid Hydration is aimed at young adults who want easy daily hydration, not athletes carb-loading before a workout.
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A $600 Million Turnaround Bet
Kraft Heinz needs this to work. The company has been stuck in a sales slump that's lasted nearly a decade, as shoppers walked away from brands like Capri Sun, Oscar Mayer, and Kraft Mac & Cheese.
Earlier this year, the company paused its plan to split itself in two. CEO Steve Cahillane said many of the issues are "fixable" and committed $600 million to fix them, with Kool-Aid alone seeing 70% more investment this year than in 2025.
The launch fits a broader food-industry shift. Under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Trump administration is pushing companies to cut petroleum-based dyes. Kraft Heinz has already pledged to phase out synthetic colors by the end of 2027, and Kool-Aid is the latest in a string of "modernized" relaunches:
- Capri Sun Hydrate (April): electrolytes, vitamin E, less than half the sugar of classic Capri Sun
- Kraft PowerMac (March): 17 grams of protein and six grams of fiber per serving
- Kool-Aid Hydration (May): zero sugar, zero artificial dyes
What To Watch
The electrolyte category has been a graveyard for brands that taste like medicine and cost like a luxury good. Kraft Heinz is betting Kool-Aid's name and a lower price tag will be enough to break through.
Kool-Aid Hydration hits store shelves later this month.
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