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Yoo-hooA Rich, Chocolatey History
Since the 1920's, Yoo-hoo has made a permanent mark in the history of beverages.
The story begins in the beginning of the 20th century, when the Olivieri family of New Jersey ran a small business producing Tru-Fruit flavors by squeezing fresh fruit. Mr. Natale Olivieri believed that a chocolate flavor, which could be marketed without fear of spoilage, would be a very successful addition to his Tru-Fruit business.
In keeping with his policy of natural ingredients, Mr. Olivieri did not want to introduce a chocolate drink unless he could eliminate spoilage problems without the addition of any chemicals or preservatives.
One day Mr. Olivieri was assisting his wife in the kitchen while she was preparing to preserve her homemade tomato sauce. The idea struck him that heat might be a method of preserving chocolate as well. That day he prepared six bottles of chocolate drink and had his wife put them through the same process that she used on her tomato sauce. Three out of the six spoiled. After further experimentation, Mr. Olivieri realized that while time and temperature were the two main factors in this new process, agitation was also necessary in order to achieve uniform heating of his product. This led him to purchase a rotating pressure machine with which he processed his first commercial batch of chocolate.
The drink soon became so successful that a major bottler/distributor began distributing Yoo-hoo. Yoo-hoo sales increased and distribution became more widespread.
The following years saw continued success for Yoo-hoo, especially through the efforts of Yogi Berra and his Yankee teammates who supported what was probably the most successful Yoo-hoo advertising campaign in the company's history. The slogans of "Me-hee for Yoo-hoo" and "The Drink of Champions" were made famous by the members of the World Champion Yankee teams of the ‘50s and ‘60s.
In the late ‘50s, B.B.C. Industries, who were distributors for Yoo-hoo in the Bronx and owned the New York Nedicks at the time, became interested in acquiring the Yoo-hoo Beverage Company. Under B.B.C. Industries, Yoo-hoo continued to grow and expand and eventually invoked the interest of Iroquois Brands, Ltd., a corporation with interests in brewing, drug and chemical production, and specialty food processing. In May of 1976, Iroquois completed their acquisition of Yoo-hoo Chocolate Beverage Corp. and held it until July 1981.
In 1981, a group of private investors acquired Yoo-hoo from Iroquois Brands. In 2002 Yoo-hoo was acquired by its current owners, Cadbury Schweppes plc. The new management expanded distribution while it introduced new products and flavors. Yoo-hoo enjoyed renewed interest and growth as it geared up to become the popular drink that you know and love today. Yoo-hoo remains close to its New York area roots, with a plant in Carlstadt, NJ. Two additional company-owned plants are located in Hialeah, FL and Opelousas, LA.
Today, Yoo-hoo continues to thrive under the ownership of Plano, Texas-based Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages (CSAB), a subsidiary division of Cadbury Schweppes plc (NYSE:CSG). CSAB is one of the largest producers of soft drinks and premium beverages in the Americas.
What’s in a name? The name Yoo-hoo was already being used for the fruit drinks and was applied to the new chocolate drink. As far as we know, the term Yoo-hoo may have been derived from some of the popular expressions of the day, which led to the naming of some other beverage products, such as Whooppee, Vigor, and Moxie. |
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