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Sunkist (also marketed as Sunkist Soda) is a brand of primarily orange-flavored
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 ...
s that launched in 1979. Sunkist primarily competes with
The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...
's
Fanta Fanta () is an American-owned brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks created by Coca-Cola Deutschland under the leadership of German businessman Max Keith. There are over 200 flavors worldwide. Fanta originated in Germany as a Co ...
brand and
Keurig Dr Pepper Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. ( ), formerly Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (1979–2014) and Keurig Green Mountain (2014–2018), is a publicly traded American beverage and coffeemaker conglomerate with headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts, and ...
's
Orange Crush Crush is a brand of carbonated soft drinks owned and marketed internationally by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally created as an orange soda, Orange Crush. It was created in 1911, 30 years before Coca-Cola's Fanta, by beverage and extract chemist ...
brand.


History

Sunkist was first licensed by Sunkist Growers to the
General Cinema Corporation General Cinema Corporation, also known as General Cinema, GCC, or General Cinema Theatres, was a chain of movie theaters in the United States. At its peak, the company operated about 1,500 screens, some of which were among the first theaters ce ...
, the leading independent bottler of
Pepsi-Cola Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
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 Fanta). 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 City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, 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 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 ...
and Pepsi-Cola bottlers. The advertising slogan was "fun, sun and the beach" using TV and radio commercials with
the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...
' hit song "
Good Vibrations "Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock music, rock band the Beach Boys, produced and composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. Released as a single on October 10, 1966, it achieved immediate critical and commercial success, ...
" as the brand's theme. In 1980, Sunkist Orange Soda became the #1 orange soda in the US and the tenth-best-selling soft drink. Unlike many other competing orange sodas, Sunkist contains
caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine chemical classification, class and is the most commonly consumed Psychoactive drug, psychoactive substance globally. It is mainly used for its eugeroic (wakefulness pr ...
(19 mg per 12 fl oz). In 2010, there was a consumer recall after a batch was accidentally mixed with six times the amount of caffeine, sickening consumers. In late 1984, Sunkist Soft Drinks was sold to Del Monte. From late 1986 until 2008, it was produced by
Cadbury Schweppes Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational corporation, multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods, Inc., Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest c ...
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
Keurig Dr Pepper Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. ( ), formerly Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (1979–2014) and Keurig Green Mountain (2014–2018), is a publicly traded American beverage and coffeemaker conglomerate with headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts, and ...
in the US. Sunkist is still the most popular orange soda in the United States. Sunkist (as a carbonated soft drink) was sold in the UK by Nichols plc, the maker of Vimto soft drinks. It is sold in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
by
Asahi Asahi (Japanese 朝日, 旭, or あさひ 'morning sun') may refer to: Places in Japan Cities * Asahi, Chiba (旭市; ''Asahi-shi'') Wards * Asahi-ku, Osaka (旭区; ''Asahi-ku'') * Asahi-ku, Yokohama (旭; ''Asahi-ku'') Towns * Asahi, Aichi ...
Beverages, the Australian formulation is caffeine free. In
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, a caffeine-free version of the orange drink is marketed as C'Plus. The package indicates that there is a small amount of Sunkist juice. In the Philippines, it was sold by Cosmos Bottling until 2001, when
San Miguel Corporation San Miguel Corporation (), abbreviated as SMC, is a Philippine multinational conglomerate with headquarters in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. The company is one of the largest and most diversified conglomerates in the Philippines. Originally fo ...
acquired Cosmos and sold its brands to Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. As of 2013, Sunkist is sold by Asia Brewery.
Keurig Dr Pepper Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. ( ), formerly Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (1979–2014) and Keurig Green Mountain (2014–2018), is a publicly traded American beverage and coffeemaker conglomerate with headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts, and ...
makes a variety of Sunkist flavors. In addition to Orange, there is Diet Orange, Grape, Strawberry, Cherry Limeade, Pineapple, Lemonade, Diet Lemonade, Peach, Fruit Punch, Pink Lemonade, Strawberry Lemonade, Berry Lemonade, Watermelon Lemonade and Orange Mango.


Slogans

*"Good Vibrations." (1978 – early 1980s, 2018–2020) *"Drinkin' in the Sun." (late 1980s) *"Feel All Orange Inside." (2007–2010) *"Head For the Sun." (2010–2013) *"Taste the Sun." (2013–2016) *"Drink the Sun." (2016–2018) *”Run in to the Sun.” (2020–present)


Notes


Further reading

* Pruitt, Bettye H. (1994)
The Making of Harcourt General
Harvard Business School Press, pp. 106–107, 153, 173. . Google Book Search. Retrieved on March 28, 2008. Note – the individual mentioned as Mark Sobell is also known as Mark Stevens. * 1984 Sunkist ad featuring the "Good Vibrations" theme song, YouTube video

Retrieved on March 27, 2008. * 1984-85 Sunkist ad featuring the "Good Vibrations" theme song, YouTube video

Retrieved on May 12, 2008. * Cadbury Schweppes purchases Canada Dry and Sunkist soft drinks from RJR (July 1986), New York Times (online)

Retrieved on March 27, 2008.
Sunkist Soda - Products
*Sunkist Soda Montage – In-the-Beginning, YouTube video

Retrieved on August 12, 2011.


External links


Beverage World — State of the Industry '06

Beverage World — State of the Industry '07

Beverage World — State of the Industry '08

Beverage World — State of the Industry '09

Beverage World — State of the Industry '10

Beverage World — State of the Industry '11

Sunkist Display Contest
(archived copy)
1989 UK Sunkist Ad, YouTube video
{{Citrus sodas Products introduced in 1979 Keurig Dr Pepper brands Orange sodas Soft drinks