Crusha is a brand of

milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, or fruit syrup into a thick, sweet, cold mixture. It may ...

mix, sold in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The brand first appeared in 1955, and was bought by

British Sugar British Sugar plc is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods and the sole British producer of sugar from sugar beet, as well as medicinal cannabis. History Early history The company was formed as the British Sugar Corporation in 1936, wh ...

. In December 2001, it came under the ''Silver Spoon'' brand.

History

Early history

Crusha was originally sold in glass bottles, but was later changed to plastic. Crusha is sold in many different flavours, the first four flavours being

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...

and

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the Rosaceae, rose family, most of which are in the subgenus ''Rubus#Modern classification, Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Ras ...

. Flavours like Lemon, Lime and

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

were also available.

2003 relaunch (2003–2008)

On 10 September 2003, the brand gained notable attention when web animator

Joel Veitch Joel Veitch (born 28 March 1974) is the showrunner and co-creator of Bad Dinosaurs, a family cartoon on Netflix released on March 28, 2024. He is a British web animator, singer-songwriter, and member of the humour website B3ta. Veitch is owner ...

animated an advert for the brand that featured cats playing musical instruments, including a ginger cat named Errol singing, and cows getting crushed under bottles of the product. Music for the commercials was provided by ''Mammoth Music''. During October of that year, British Sugar admitted a secret plot to clear faulty milkshakes from

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 ...

, without telling the company. That year, new flavours

Vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). ''Vanilla'' is not Autogamy, autogamous, so pollination ...

and Black Cherry were added to the lineup, alongside the returning flavours

Lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...

and

Pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

. For 2005, Pineapple and Black Cherry were replaced with two new flavours:

white chocolate White chocolate is a chocolate made from cocoa butter, sugar and milk solids. It is Ivory (color), ivory in color and lacks the dark appearance of most other types of chocolate as it does not contain the non-fat components of cocoa (cocoa sol ...

and a tropical fruit variant named "Wild'n'Fruity". In October 2005, No Added Sugar versions of Strawberry and Banana were introduced.

2007 refresh (2007–2011)

In April 2007, Crusha was rebranded with a new logo and with reformulated "Nothing Artificial" versions of their reduced range of flavours, consisting of Raspberry, Strawberry, Banana, Chocolate and White Chocolate. In August 2007, after receiving thousands of complaints from dismayed customers, about the wildly different taste of the new 'Nothing Artificial' version of Strawberry Crusha, it was confirmed that they would revert to the old recipe. The white chocolate variety was later discontinued. On 22 January 2008, a No Added Sugar variation of the Raspberry flavour was introduced. Joel Veitch produced another advert campaign, this time showing the cats inside a gym, with cows on treadmills getting Crushed by bottles of the product, with eventually the main cat singer Errol, (who has become black and white) getting crushed as well. In December 2009, after several campaigns, it was announced that Lime Crusha would return, and would do so on 6 March 2010 at

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...

and

Waitrose Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a British supermarket chain, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. In 1937, it was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned b ...

stores. It rapidly established itself as its highest selling flavour. A new advert was also made, featuring the Crusha cats disco rolling, with Errol getting crushed by a bottle once again. Lime Crusha was regarded as something of a 'cult drink', and for a time was not stocked by many shops, due to low customer demand.

Expansion to desserts (2011–2014)

In 2011, the Crusha brand was extended to a range of desserts, including Puddings and Jelly. The Milkshake Mix was rebranded as Crusha Mixa, and the Vanilla flavour returned as a limited Edition flavour, now as ''Vanilla Ice Cream''. Banana Crusha was discontinued in shops, but remained a bulk product for

cash and carry Cash and carry (or inspect and pay) is a type of operation within the wholesale sector. Overview The main features of cash and carry are summarized best by the following definitions: *Cash and carry is a form of trade in which goods are sold ...

stores. For 2012, a new limited-edition flavour was released, Cherry and Vanilla, which replaced the Vanilla Ice Cream flavour. Another advert was broadcast that year, featuring Errol and his cats breakdancing, with cows on skateboards getting crushed by a bottle at the end. In 2013, Apple & Blackcurrant replaced the Cherry and Vanilla flavour.

Crusha Time (2014–2024)

On 5 March 2014, Crusha rebranded fully, scrapping "Errol's Crew" and giving Errol a younger appearance, with kittens doing stunts to make Crusha. The flavour selection rebranded to just raspberry, strawberry and chocolate, with a new No Added Sugar version of the chocolate flavour. In 2016, Vanilla returned as a no added sugar flavour, without any sugar version. In 2019, Crusha introduced a limited edition no-added-sugar Cookies & Cream flavour to the product family. In 2020, The

flavour was reintroduced as a limited edition product, with it being available in No Added Sugar for the first time.

Retro Rebranding (2024-)

In April 2024, Silver Spoon rebranded Crusha with a new retro-styled logo, aiming towards an adult audience. Currently, the drink is available in Strawberry and Chocolate flavours, with Banana returning alongside a new Caramel Latte flavour.

Flavours

Current

Strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...

(no added sugar) *

Chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

(no added sugar) *

Banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

(no added sugar) * Caramel Latte (no added sugar) *

(Full sugar, Cash and Carry only) *

Raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the Rosaceae, rose family, most of which are in the subgenus ''Rubus#Modern classification, Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Ras ...

(Full sugar, Cash and Carry only) *

(Full sugar, Cash and Carry only)

Former

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 ...

and

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 ...

(Limited Edition 2013) * Black Cherry *

Caramel Caramel ( or ) is a range of food ingredients made by heating sugars to high temperatures. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, as a topping for ice cream and custard, and as a colorant ...

Cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The na ...

and

(Limited Edition 2012) *

Lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

(no added sugar, limited edition) *

(no added sugar) *

Toffee Toffee is an English confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepar ...

(no added sugar) *

Ice Cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

(Limited Edition 2011) * WildNFruity *

White Chocolate White chocolate is a chocolate made from cocoa butter, sugar and milk solids. It is Ivory (color), ivory in color and lacks the dark appearance of most other types of chocolate as it does not contain the non-fat components of cocoa (cocoa sol ...

References

External links

*{{URL, http://crusha.co.uk/ Brand name dairy products Flavored milk