Vimto is a British mixed fruit

soft drink A soft drink (see #Terminology, § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) Carbonated water, carbonated, and typically including added Sweetness, sweetener. Flavors used to be Natural flav ...

containing the juice of

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

s, raspberries,

blackcurrant The blackcurrant (''Ribes nigrum''), also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, w ...

s, and black

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...

s flavoured with herbs and spices. Originating in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, northern

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, the recipe was invented in 1908 by John Noel Nichols of

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

. It was first manufactured as a health tonic in cordial form, then decades later as a carbonated drink. Produced domestically by Nichols plc, it is available in cans and bottles in carbonated, still, cordial (squash), and energy forms and it has also been made into a

sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, ...

, ice lolly and other items. Vimto is traditionally most popular in the north of England and is also sold globally under license, and enjoys high popularity in the Persian Gulf countries and in

The Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

and

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

History

Vimto was created in 1908 in

by John Noel Nichols (1883–1966), a wholesaler of herbs, spices and medicines. He saw the market opening for soft drinks due to the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

and the passage of the Licensing Act 1904. It was originally sold under the name Vim Tonic ( meaning 'vigour'), which Nichols shortened to 'Vimto' in 1912. Vimto was originally registered as a health tonic or medicine, which was then re-registered in 1913 as a cordial. The concoction formula is a guarded

trade secret A trade secret is a form of intellectual property (IP) comprising confidential information that is not generally known or readily ascertainable, derives economic value from its secrecy, and is protected by reasonable efforts to maintain its conf ...

with only 4 people appointed in keeping the recipe. In 1910, production moved to a warehouse at Chapel Street,

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

, then to

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in 1927, and in 1971, to a state-of-the-art plant in

Wythenshawe Wythenshawe () is an area of Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, in 1931 Wythenshawe was transferred to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a large housing estate there in the 1920s. With an area of approximately , ...

, Manchester. In 1999, the company's head office moved to

Newton-le-Willows Newton-le-Willows, often shortened informally to Newton, is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census was 24,642. Newton-le-Willows is on the ea ...

in St Helens, Merseyside. From the 1990s to 2003, Vimto print advertisements used the cartoon character Purple Ronnie, along with slightly rude poems by Giles Andreae, the creator of Purple Ronnie. In 2003, Purple Ronnie was dropped, and a new creative direction was adopted, revolving around the benefits of 'Shlurpling the Purple'. This, in turn, led to the launch in 2006 of Billy and his Dad's Pants–a modern-day

morality Morality () is the categorization of intentions, Decision-making, decisions and Social actions, actions into those that are ''proper'', or ''right'', and those that are ''improper'', or ''wrong''. Morality can be a body of standards or principle ...

story in which, despite turning up at the swimming pool with his Dad's

pants Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants (American English, American, Canadian English, Canadian and Australian English) are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separatel ...

in the middle of his rolled-up towel, Billy wins out with ingenuity and humour. The theme tune 'Dad's Pants' become something of a cult classic, and was based on the

Loudon Wainwright III Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He has released twenty-six studio albums, four live albums, and six compilations. Some of his best-known songs include "The Swimmin ...

song " Dead Skunk". At Manchester 2018 024

An oak sculpture entitled "A Monument to Vimto" was created by Kerry Morrison and installed on Granby Row–the location of the original Vimto premises–in central Manchester in 1992. The statue was restored and repainted in 2011. In 2021 Vimto introduced a new logo design across the range.

Manufacture

Vimto is currently produced by Refresco (formerly Cott Corporation) in both

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

on behalf of Vimto Soft Drinks, a division of Nichols plc. Nichols moved out of manufacturing in 2003 when it closed its final production site in

Golborne Golborne (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies south-south-east of Wigan, north-east of Warrington and to the west of the city of Manchester. Along with the neighbouring village ...

. Vimto is also manufactured under licence in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

, and

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. A ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' article in 2007 claimed it to be the most popular drink during the holy month of

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

in some Arab countries. The drink in its original incarnation is still maintained as a health tonic among West Africans and is marketed as such there. The drink was also made under licence in the United Kingdom by A.G. Barr in 1996. In 2014, the recipe for Fizzy Vimto was changed to include artificial sweeteners, Acesulfame K and

Sucralose Sucralose is an artificial sweetener and sugar substitute. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number E955. It is produced by chlorination of sucrose, selectively replacing three of the hydroxy groups—in the C1 a ...

. Ellis Wilkinson Mineral Water facilitated the production of drinks for Vimto in their early days of trading.

Company

A subsidiary of Nichols plc, Cabana is the distribution arm of the company, and operates via a UK-wide network of distributors that are, in the main, independent. In

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, the distributor is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cabana (Scotland–Cariel, and Sussex–Beacon Drinks now closed). Vimto is currently available in 65 countries and the number of countries in which it is on sale is growing.

Variations (UK market)

Both a still, dilutable version ("Vimto Cordial") and a carbonated premixed version ("Fizzy Vimto") are available in the UK. While Vimto has its origins in

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

, it can now be found both nationally and internationally. The cordial version is more widely sold and is available in concentrate and ready-to-drink varieties. The cordial version was widely known for being suitable for

vegans Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vega ...

until Vimto added

vitamin D Vitamin D is a group of structurally related, fat-soluble compounds responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, along with numerous other biological functions. In humans, the most important compo ...

, which is derived from sheep's wool, in April 2021. Vimto is also available in a slush variety alongside many other different Vimto confectionery products, such as Vimto bars, lollipops, Rip Rolls, candy sprays, and Jelly Babies. Vimto is also available in the form of an energy drink, Vimto Energy, made with natural caffeine and real fruit juice. Vimto is also available in a summer flavour, containing ingredients such as orange and

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

, both of which are cordial products. Vimto was the UK's fastest-growing soft drinks brand by value in 2006 (as measured by

Nielsen Corporation NIQ (also known as NielsenIQ, formerly known as ACNielsen or AC Nielsen) is a global marketing research firm, with worldwide headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The company has approximately 30,000 employees and operates in more ...

). An alcoholic

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

known as the Cheeky Vimto or "Crazy Vimto" is also drunk in the UK. However, Vimto is not an ingredient of this beverage, and the name comes from its resemblance to the original product; instead, it contains

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

and Blue WKD. There is also a variant of this cocktail called "Dirty Vimto" that replaces the port with

Buckfast Tonic Wine Buckfast Tonic Wine is a caffeinated alcoholic drink consisting of fortified wine with added caffeine, originally made by monks at Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England. It is now made under a licence granted by the monastery, and distributed by J. ...

Vimto is also often made as a hot beverage by simply adding boiling water to the concentrate, and is popular in this form throughout the north of England. Vimto is often made with hot water, especially during the winter months. It is also taken to sporting events in vacuum flasks by spectators as a warming drink to fend off the winter chill. Various alternate-flavoured variants of Vimto were introduced over the years; cherry- and strawberry-flavoured variants, known as "Cherry Vimto" and "Strawberry Vimto", have become part of the range. In 2016, a new variant, "Vimto Remix", was introduced. This range consists of various alternate flavour mixes that were introduced each year – mango, strawberry and pineapple in 2016, raspberry, orange, and passionfruit in 2017, watermelon, strawberry, and peach in 2018 and strawberry, orange and lime in 2019. The "Remix" name was eventually dropped after the drink was rebranded in 2021, while new flavour mixes continue to be introduced. Homemade variations include a Vimto Milkshake made by adding milk instead of water to the cordial, and a Vimto Milkshake Special involving the same with vanilla ice-cream added. In June 2023, Vimto launched an

energy drink An energy drink is a type of non-alcoholic psychoactive functional beverage containing stimulant compounds, usually caffeine (at a higher concentration than ordinary soda pop) and taurine, which is marketed as reducing tiredness and improving pe ...

, called Vimto Energy. It is currently available as a normal version with sugar and a sugar free (zero) version.

Foreign markets

In the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, Vimto () has had over 80 years of dominance as the beverage of choice for the

iftar ''Iftar'' () is the Fasting in Islam, fast-breaking Supper, evening meal of Muslims in Ramadan at the time of ' (call to prayer) of the Maghrib prayer. Iftar is the second meal of the day; during Ramadan, the daily fast begins immediately a ...

or sunset feast during the

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic holy fasting month of

. As of 2013, Aujan, the local bottler in Saudi Arabia, has been producing over 20 million bottles per year for the GCC market. An article in ''The Sunday Times'' mentioned some 15 million bottles were sold during the one-month season in 2007. Vimto

In Saudi Arabia, Vimto is manufactured under licence by the Aujan Industrial Company and has a 90% market share in the cordial concentrated drinks market. Every year, the company launches aggressive marketing campaigns on Arab satellite TV channels that in recent years have become very popular, and achieved cult status with

viral marketing Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way th ...

videos exchanged on the Internet. Vimto was introduced in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1924 during the colonial period. Vimto was introduced to

and

in the 1980s, where it remains popular. In 2011, Vimto once again became widely available throughout the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, through

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

and the local version of

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

shops. In

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, Vimto is produced under licence by Mehran Bottlers. In

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, Vimto is manufactured under licence by Himganga Beverage Pvt Ltd. In

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, Vimto is manufactured under license by Kean. In Ghana, Vimto is manufactured under licence by Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana Ltd. It officially broke into the

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

n market in 2024; though Malaysian consumers have already been acquainted with the brand years prior through the Middle Eastern version in specialty stores (''kedai Arab'') unofficially provided by AM Avenue Trading, also a local distributor of

Barbican A barbican (from ) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe Medieval Europeans typically b ...

Logos

File:Vimto quotes vintage logo.jpg, A variant of the vintage Vimto logo that was used earlier in the 20th century File:Vimto vintage logo.png, Vintage Vimto logo that was used until the 1980s File:Vimtologo.png, Older Vimto logo until 2014 (in Britain) File:Vimto logo.svg, Current logo since 2021 (in Britain) File:Vimto Arabic logo.png, Current Vimto logo for the Arab market File:Vimto Can.jpg, Old style Vimto logo still produced on some products internationally

2024 product recall

On 5 April 2024, Nichols plc recalled 500ml bottles of Vimto due to a packaging error. The bottle stated there was no added sugar, but the bottle contains sugar.

References

External links

Vimto UK web site

Vimto international web site

{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060621071824/https://www.bsf.org.uk/arc_2003.html#VS03 , date=2006-06-21 1908 establishments in England British soft drink brands Products introduced in 1908 Soft drinks Energy drinks Monuments and memorials in Manchester Tourist attractions in Manchester