Sunkist, also marketed as Sunkist Soda, is a brand of primarily orange-flavored soft drinks. It is produced by Keurig Dr Pepper in the United States and competes chiefly with The Coca-Cola Company's Fanta and Keurig Dr Pepper's own Crush (formerly marketed under PepsiCo/other ownership arrangements). The "Sunkist" name itself is a trademark owned by Sunkist Growers, Inc., a California- and Arizona-based citrus cooperative, which licenses the brand to beverage manufacturers in exchange for royalties.
History
Sunkist was first licensed by Sunkist Growers to the General Cinema Corporation, which at the time was a leading independent bottler of Pepsi-Cola products. The soft drink was conceived by Mark Stevens, who identified potential in market research indicating that, worldwide, orange was the third-best-selling soft drink flavor (largely owing to Fanta). After research and development during 1977 and early 1978 involving taste, color, and carbonation, the drink was introduced in New York City through a franchise granted to The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York. National distribution followed, primarily through franchises to leading Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola bottlers. Early advertising used the slogan "fun, sun and the beach," with television and radio commercials featuring the Beach Boys' song "Good Vibrations." In 1980, Sunkist Orange Soda reportedly became the top-selling orange soda in the United States and the tenth-best-selling soft drink overall.
In late 1984, Sunkist Soft Drinks was sold to Del Monte. From late 1986 until 2008, the product was produced by Cadbury Schweppes under license through its Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages subsidiary. Following the demerger of that subsidiary from Cadbury Schweppes, production in the United States has been handled by Keurig Dr Pepper. In 2010, a consumer recall occurred after a batch was accidentally mixed with six times the intended amount of caffeine, sickening consumers.
Product and flavors
Beyond the original Orange variety, the brand has included Diet Orange, Grape, Strawberry, Cherry Limeade, Pineapple, Lemonade, Diet Lemonade, Peach, Fruit Punch, Pink Lemonade, Strawberry Lemonade, Berry Lemonade, Watermelon Lemonade, and Orange Mango, among others. Unlike many competing orange sodas, the original United States formulation contains caffeine (approximately 19 mg per 12 fl oz). In Canada, a caffeine-free version of the orange drink is marketed under the separate brand name C'Plus.
Distribution
Keurig Dr Pepper licenses the brand to other companies internationally. In the United Kingdom, the drink was originally licensed to Coca-Cola & Schweppes Enterprises; in June 1999, Cadbury Schweppes arranged for Vimto Soft Drinks to distribute it in the UK. In Australia, Asahi has distributed the product, using a caffeine-free formulation. In the Philippines, it was sold by Cosmos Bottling until 2001, when San Miguel Corporation acquired Cosmos and sold its brands to Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc.; as of 2013, Sunkist has been sold there by Asia Brewery. Some of these distribution details are attributed to unsourced or citation-flagged claims in secondary sources and should be treated as reported rather than definitively verified.
