Vimto

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Vimto is a purple soft drink in the United Kingdom. It contains the juice of grapes, raspberries and blackcurrants. Vimto has also been made into a sweet and an ice lolly.

1 History
2 Manufacture
3 Variations
4 Trivia
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

Vimto was first formulated in 1908 at 49 Granby Row, Manchester, by wholesale druggist and herb importer John Noel Nichols (1883 - 1966). He saw the market opening for soft drinks due to the temperance movement and the passage of the 1908 Licensing Act (which attempted to drastically reduce the number of licensed premises in England and Wales). It was originally sold under the name Vimtonic, which Nichols shortened to Vimto in 1912. The official 'Vimto History' states that Vimto was originally registered as a health tonic or medicine, which was then re-registered in 1913 as a cordial.^[1]

[edit] Manufacture

It is currently made by Vimto Soft Drinks, a division of Nichols plc. It has acquired cult status amongst its consumers and celebrates its 100 year anniversary in 2008. Vimto is also manufactured under licence in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

The drink was also made under license in the United Kingdom by A.G. Barr.

[edit] Variations

Both a still, dilutable version ("Vimto Cordial") and a carbonated pre-mixed version ("Fizzy Vimto") are available in the UK. While Vimto has its origins in Northern England, it is increasingly growing in popularity and can now be found nationally. The Cordial version is more widely sold and is available in dilutable cordial and ready to drink varieties.

Vimto is also available in a summer flavour, containing ingredients such as orange ("Who put Oranges in my Vimto?") and apple ("Who put apples in my Vimto?") both of which are cordial products. Vimto was the UK's fastest growing soft drinks brand by value in 2005 (as measured by ACNielsen).

[edit] Trivia

This article contains a trivia section.
Content in this section should be integrated into other appropriate areas of the article or removed, and the trivia section removed.

A statue, "Monument to Vimto" (1992) by Kerry Morrison is situated on Granby Row in central Manchester.^[2] The statue commemorates the fact that Vimto was originally produced on this site. ^[3]
During the 1990s, Vimto print advertisements utilised the popular character Purple Ronnie along with slightly rude poems by the creator of Purple Ronnie Giles Andreae which often involved use of the phrase bottom burp.
Munch, a minor character in BBC3 sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, makes several references to Vimto in the series, usually implying that he believes it to be an alcoholic beverage.
Cheeky Vimto is an alcoholic cocktail which tastes like Vimto but, does not include Vimto in its ingredients. It is made by mixing Port with WKD Original Vodka Blue.
In the Red Dwarf episode "The Last Day", Kryten describes a drink made for him as being like "A cross between Vimto and liquid nitrogen."