Wizz Fizz

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Wizz Fizz is an Australian brand of sherbet manufactured by Fyna Foods Australia Pty Ltd. It is available in 12.5g sachets and comes as a very fine powder. A small plastic spoon allows consumption of the sherbet straight from the sachet.

Wizz Fizz was created by Arthur Campbell, a Melbourne confectioner, in 1947. Campbell adopted a recipe for the fizzy drink known as sherbet, popular in the United Kingdom. Originally included in the centre of lollipops, the sherbet proved so popular it came to be sold on its own.[1] Campbell's recipe has been altered only slightly since its creation, and includes icing sugar, malic acid, bicarbonate of soda and magnesium carbonate.[2] The sachets of pure sherbet were first sold by Fyna Foods in the 1950s, and came with liquorice straws instead of plastic spoons. From 1966 to 1996, Disney characters also featured on packets of Wizz Fizz, but these have since been replaced with non-licensed characters such as 'Screaming Mimi' and 'Weird Wally'. Football cards were also included in packets of the product from 1957, making Fyna Foods one of the first Australian companies to use this as a marketing ploy.[3]

Wizz Fizz engenders a high degree of consumer loyalty, and has weathered attempts by many competitors over the years to erode its consumer base.[4] Fyna Foods produces 14 million sachets of Wizz Fizz each year from its Melbourne factory. The product is a major seller for Fyna Foods, making up about a third of the company's revenue.[5] However, the packets no longer contain 14g of sherbet, as was formerly the case, with the reduction in weight stated to be a concession to health concerns.[6]

Other products in the Wizz Fizz range have included:

  • Original Wizz Fizz
  • Ring Fizz, which contained a ring in the packet[7]
  • Blue Tongue Sherbet
  • Sour Sherbet
  • Sherbet Cones, introduced in the 1970s and consisting of a wafer cone with marshmallow, hundreds and thousands and sherbet[8]
  • Wizz Fizz Lollipops

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sheedy, C. 'Icons in the beginning...', The Sun-Herald, 12 August 2007.
  2. ^ Barrett, P. 'Access all areas: the Wizz Fizz Factory', The Age, 31 August 2007.
  3. ^ Sheedy, C. 'Icons in the beginning...', The Sun-Herald, 12 August 2007.
  4. ^ Robertson, K. 'Sweet tang of success', Sunday Herald Sun, 6 September 1998.
  5. ^ Galacho, O. 'Fizz Wizz shapes up to do-gooders', The Courier-Mail, 4 June 2004.
  6. ^ Barrett, P. 'Access all areas: the Wizz Fizz Factory', The Age, 31 August 2007.
  7. ^ Sheedy, C. 'Icons in the beginning...', The Sun-Herald, 12 August 2007.
  8. ^ Sheedy, C. 'Icons in the beginning...', The Sun-Herald, 12 August 2007.