Toast - Sunny Delight

Why did sales of the best-selling soft drink, Sunny Delight, suddenly bomb in the 1990s?

While Sliced Bread takes a break we serve up… Toast. A study of the spectacular failures of brands which had promised so much to consumers.

In each episode, the presenter and BBC business journalist, Sean Farrington, examines one big idea. What did it promise? Why did it fail? What can we learn from it today?

In this episode, which was first broadcast in January 2024, Sean learns why sales of Sunny Delight faltered in the UK after an extraordinarily successful launch.

Sean speaks to some of the people who worked on the brand, hearing how it became a hit before a series of unfortunate coincidences undermined its popularity.

The self-made millionaire and serial entrepreneur, Sam White, is alongside him, analysing the missteps that changed Sunny Delight's fortunes.

'Sunny D', as it is known today, is still sold in some UK supermarkets. It has different owners and ingredients but it has never matched the incredible sales figures which it achieved in its early days.

CORRECTION: Beta-carotene is not a B vitamin as briefly referenced in this programme. It's turned into vitamin A in the body.

You can email the programme at [email protected]

Feel free to suggest topics which we could cover in future episodes

Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in February. In the new series, Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread. In the meantime, Toast is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds.

Toast is produced by Jon Douglas and Viant Siddique and is a BBC Audio North production for Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.