Crush (brand)

Crush

Type	Soft drink
Manufacturer	The Pepsi Bottling Group
Distributor	Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Country of origin	United States
Introduced	1916
Related products	Fanta, Nehi, Orange Slice, Sunkist

Crush is a carbonated soft drink brand, originally marketed as an orange soda. Crush competes with Coca-Cola's Fanta, and Dr Pepper Snapple Group's Sunkist. It was invented by California beverage and extract chemist Neil C. Ward. Most flavors of Crush are caffeine-free.

In 1911, Clayton J. Howel, president and founder of the Orange Crush Company, partnered with Neil C. Ward and incorporated the company. Ward made the recipe for Orange Crush. Howel was not new to the soft drink business, having earlier introduced Howel’s Orange Julep. Soft drinks of the time often carried the surname of the inventor along with the product name. Howel sold the rights to use his name in conjunction with his first brand; therefore, Ward was given the honors: Crush was first premiered as Ward's Orange Crush. Originally, Orange Crush included orange pulp in the bottles, giving it a "fresh squeezed" illusion even though the pulp was added rather than remaining from squeezed oranges. Pulp has not been in the bottles for decades.

Crush was purchased by Procter & Gamble in 1980 (with the exception of the Canadian rights, which were purchased in 1984). Procter & Gamble only manufactured "bottler's base," which was a concentrate consisting of flavor and color. 1 milliliter of bottler's base was combined with syrup and carbonated water to create a 12-ounce bottle of Crush. In 1989, Cadbury Schweppes acquired Crush USA from Procter & Gamble Co. Cadbury Schweppes spun off its United States beverage business as Dr Pepper Snapple Group in 2008.

The Crush brand and trademark are currently owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group of Plano, Texas. Crush is also popular in Canada, where it is distributed by subsidiary Canada Dry Motts. It is distributed by various Pepsi bottlers, the biggest being the Pepsi Bottling Group Canada.

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