Sunkist (soft drink)

Sunkist
Type Soft drink
Manufacturer Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Country of origin United States
Introduced 1979
Related products Fanta
Sunkist 'Orange'
Nutritional value per 1 can (375 mL)
Energy 833 kJ (199 kcal)
48.4 g
Sugars 48.4 g
0 g
0 g
Trace metals
Sodium
(2%)

34 mg

Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.
Sunkist 'Orange'
Nutritional value per 1 can (355 mL)
Energy 711.28 kJ (170.00 kcal)
44 g
Sugars 43 g
0 g
0 g
Trace metals
Sodium
(5%)

70 mg

Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.

Sunkist is a brand of primarily orange flavored soft drinks launched in 1979.

History

Sunkist was first licensed by Sunkist Growers to the General Cinema Corporation, the leading independent bottler of Pepsi-Cola products at the time. The soft drink was the idea of Mark Stevens, who foresaw the potential based on market research which indicated that, worldwide, orange was the third best selling soft drink flavor (largely due to The Coca-Cola Company's Fanta brand).

After extensive R&D during 1977 and early 1978, in which research was conducted on taste, color and carbonation levels, Sunkist made a grand introduction in New York by franchising it to The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York, where Edward F. O'Reilly was president. At the time of introduction, Sunkist Soft Drinks had only five key employees: Mark Stevens, President; Peter Murphy, VP Sales; Dr. John Leffingwell, VP R&D; Ray Sissom, VP Finance; and Jim DeDreu, NE Regional Manager. It went national soon thereafter by being franchised mainly to leading Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola bottlers. The advertising slogan was "fun, sun and the beach" using TV and radio commercials with the Beach Boys' hit song "Good Vibrations" as the brand's theme. In 1980, Sunkist Orange Soda became the #1 orange soda in the USA and the 10th best selling soft drink. Unlike many other competing orange sodas, Sunkist contains caffeine (41.0mg). [1]

In late 1984, Sunkist Soft Drinks was sold to Del Monte. From late 1986 until 2008, it was produced by Cadbury Schweppes under license through its Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages subsidiary. Following the demerger of Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages from Cadbury Schweppes, it is now produced by Dr Pepper Snapple Group in the USA. Sunkist is still the most popular orange soda in the United States. Sunkist (as a carbonated soft drink) is sold in the UK by Vimto Soft Drinks under license from Sunkist Growers. It is also sold in Australia by Schweppes Australia (a subsidiary of Asahi Breweries), but the Australian formulation is caffeine free. In Canada, a decaffeinated version of the orange drink is marketed as C'Plus.[2] The package indicates that there is a small amount of Sunkist Juice.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group also makes a diet version of Sunkist.

Ingredients

Australia (marked on 375 mL can):

Canada (marked on 355 mL can):

United Kingdom (marked on 330 mL can):

United States (marked on 20 oz. bottle):

United States (marked on 12 oz. can):

Criticism

The magazine Men's Health rated Sunkist as the worst soda in the United States, citing its extremely high sugar content equivalent to 6 Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches and its artificial coloring agents yellow 6 and red 40, which "may be linked to behavioral and concentration problems in children".[3]

Variants

Flavors include:

Slogans

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.caffeineinformer.com/the-caffeine-database
  2. ↑ "C'Plus". Canada Dry Mott's Inc. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  3. ↑ "Worst Soda | Eat This, Not That". Eatthis.menshealth.com. Retrieved 2012-10-22.

References

External links