Canada Dry (32)

Canada Dry

Canada Dry is a brand of soft drinks owned since 2008 by the Texas-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group. For over a century Canada Dry has been known for its ginger ale, though the company also manufactures a number of other soft drinks and mixers.

Although Canada Dry originated in its namesake country, it is now produced in many countries around the globe, including the United States, the Middle East, Europe and Japan. Among its many other meanings, the word "dry" can mean "not sweet", as in a dry wine. When John McLaughlin originally formulated his new soft drink, it was far less sweet than other ginger ales then available; as a result, he labeled it "dry".

In 1890, Canadian pharmacist and chemist, John J. McLaughlin of Enniskillen, Ontario opened a carbonated water plant in Toronto. In 1904, McLaughlin created Canada Dry Pale Ginger Ale; three years later the drink was appointed to the Royal Household of the Governor General of Canada, and the label featuring a beaver atop a map of Canada was replaced with the present Crown and shield. When McLaughlin began shipping his product to New York in 1919, it became so popular that he opened a plant in Manhattan shortly thereafter. After McLaughlin's death, the company was run briefly by Sam. P. D. Saylor and Associates who bought the business from the McLaughlin family in 1923 and formed Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Inc., a public company.

Canada Dry's popularity as a mixer began during Prohibition, when its flavor helped mask the taste of homemade liquor. In the 1930s, Canada Dry expanded worldwide and from the 1950s onward, the company introduced a larger number of products.

Norton Simon took an interest in the company in 1964, and it merged with Simon's other holdings, the McCall Corporation and Hunt Foods, to form Norton Simon Inc. Dr Pepper bought Canada Dry from Norton Simon in 1982. In 1984, Dr Pepper was acquired by Forstmann Little & Company and Canada Dry was sold to R. J. Reynolds' Del Monte Foods unit to pay off acquisition debt. RJR Nabisco sold its soft drink business to Cadbury Schweppes in 1986. Today, Canada Dry is owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group, which spun out of Cadbury Schweppes in 2008.