Almdudler () is the brand name of a popular herbal carbonated

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 ...

from

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Product

The original Almdudler is a sweetened carbonated beverage made of

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

al extracts. Almdudler has been called the "national drink of Austria". Its popularity in Austria is second only to

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

. About 80 million litres of the beverage are produced per year. Almdudler is currently sold in original, light (sugar-free), "still" (uncarbonated), and ''g'spritzt'' (mixed with carbonated mineral water) versions. In Austria, a '' Radler'' variety (mixed with

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

), is available as ''Almradler''. In the wine-growing regions of

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

and

Burgenland Burgenland (; ; ; Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland''; Slovene language, Slovene: ''Gradiščanska''; ) is the easternmost and least populous Bundesland (Austria), state of Austria. It consists of two statutory city (Austria), statut ...

, it is a popular mixer with locally produced

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

and

white wine White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without undergoing the process of Maceration (wine), maceration, which involves prolonged contact between the juice with the grape skins, seeds, and pulp. The wine color, colou ...

History

After three years of development, Almdudler was produced from 1957 by the

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Viennese classicism * Viennese coffee house, an eating establishment and part of Viennese ...

entrepreneur Erwin Klein (1924–1983). According to the company's website, he derived the name from the then-common phrase ''auf der Alm dudeln'', which means "

yodeling Yodeling (also jodeling) is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or "chest voice") and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word ''yodel'' is derived from t ...

in the (alpine) pasture". The drink was originally created and marketed as an alternative to

alcoholic beverage Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

s or as a mixer for alcoholic drinks. Klein promoted the popularity of Almdudler through advertising and sponsoring at major sporting events, such as the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The city was a ...

held in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

. Since 1973, the Almdudler company only functions as a license supplier. The Austrian family business Pfanner and the mineral water company Franken Brunnen have been distribution partners in Germany since 2016, and Stardrinks AG (a subsidiary of

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 February 1864, ...

Switzerland AG) in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. For the 60th anniversary of the brand in 2017, the American artist Mel Ramos created a painting with the name "Almdudler’s Fabulous Blonde". Almdudler remains wholly owned by the Klein family. Erwin Klein’s son Thomas serves as chairman of the parent company supervisory board, while Gerhard Schilling has been

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

since 2004.

Marketing and distribution

Almdudler is currently bottled in Austria, Germany, Croatia, Belgium, and Switzerland. It is further exported to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania, Australia, and the United States. In 2017, American figurative painter Mel Ramos created a painting for the brand's 60th anniversary entitled "Almdudler's Fabulous Blonde", which was exhibited in the Vienna Museum of Art History. The famous award winning advertising slogan for Almdudler "Wenn die kan Almdudler hab'n, geh i wieder ham." "If they don't have any Almdudler I'm going home". Was written by English Creative director Simon North.

Popularity

Nearly 99 percent of all Austrians know the herbal soft drink. Almdudler was ranked 7th in Austria's largest brand study. The so-called Brand Asset Valuator by the

Young & Rubicam VMLY&R was an American marketing and Marketing communications, communications company specializing in advertising, Digital media, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the 2020 mer ...

agency measures brand value from the consumer's point of view, and the 2000 respondents chose Almdudler as the only Austrian beverage brand among the top 10. Over 80 million liters of Almdudler are produced every year; 14 percent (as of 2010) and 20 percent (as of 2014) of total sales are bottled and sold in foreign markets.

References

External links

* {{in lang, de Austrian brands Austrian cuisine Fruit sodas Non-alcoholic drinks Soft drinks Drink brands Austrian drinks