297. Canada Dry’s UVA: The Country’s Favorite Grape-Flavored Soda of the ‘60s

UVA, Canada Dry's Popular Grape Soda, 1960

Canada Dry Beverages has a long history that started in 1904 with the production off the 1^st ginger ale drink concocted by Ontario native Jonh J. McLoughlin. After his death in 1914, his brother Samuel took over the company but then sold it to P.. Saylor and Associates which put up CANADA DRY Ginger Ale Inc.

The business grew exponentially, and by the 1930s, CANADA DRY was available worldwide. From the 1950s onward, the company ventured into soft drinks and mixers, which proved also successful. CANADA DRY Beverages reached the country in the 1950s when the Canada Dry Bottling Co.  of the Philippines was put up in Parañaque, Rizal, by authority of the CANADA DRY International Corp. New York, U.S.A. 

UVA, 1962 AD

In 1959, CANADA DRY began pipelining their soda beverage bottled products through local sari-sari stores—Kola Champagne, Root Beer, True Fruit  Orange, Strawberry and UVA—a grape-flavored softdrink. Royal had attempted to popularize  grape sodas before, and so did other provincial brands—to lukewarm reception. But UVA changed all that—elevating grape soda closer to the level of orange-flavored softdrinks. 

UVA, Refreshes in a Wink! 1960

By 1960, UVA had independent ads, which  hailed its merits as a “lively,sparklingand refreshing drink”. “Refreshes in a wink!” was the thematic campaign line, used that year. Indeed, UVA enjoyed quite a measure of popularity and success in the Philippines in the 1960 decade. 

UVA, Lively! Sparkling! 1960

Soon after, in 1964 CANADA DRY was ought by Norton Simon took an interest in the company and it was merged with its other holdings, the McCall Corporation and Hunt Foods, to form Norton Simon Inc. The subsequent change of ownership and the politically charged 70s decade caused the closure of the CANADA DRY business in the country—and along with it, the end of UVA. Currently, the brand name UVA is being used by a Puerto Rican soda company that manufactures the grape-flavored softdrink touted as the island’s favorite.