Fresca is a
grapefruit
The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink.
Grapefruit is ...
-flavored citrus
soft drink
A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...
created by
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...
. Borrowing the word ''Fresca'' (meaning "fresh") from
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
,
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
and
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
, it was introduced in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 1966. Originally a bottled sugar-free
diet soda
Diet or light beverages (also marketed as sugar-free, zero-calorie, low-calorie, zero-sugar or zero) are generally sugar-free, artificially sweetened beverages with few or no calories. They are marketed for diabetics and other people who want t ...
, sugar sweetened versions were introduced in some markets.
Currently, Fresca has been rebranded as "Fresca Sparkling Soda Water", reformulated in four flavors – Grapefruit Citrus, Black Cherry Citrus, Peach Citrus and Blackberry Citrus – and described as "The original no sugar, no calorie sparkling beverage". In the US, Fresca is currently sold in plastic bottles and aluminum cans.
History
Trademarks
According to the United States Patent Office, "Fresca" was first trademarked by The Coca-Cola Company in July 1962 as a trade name for "frozen concentrated orange juice" and "frozen concentrated tangerine juice". The company also applied for a trademark for "Fresca" in 1962 as a "Non-alcoholic Maltless Soft Drinks and the Syrups for Preparing Soft Drinks". In 1969, the company applied for a trademark for "Fresca" as a trade name for "soft drinks and syrups and concentrates for making same".
Fresca as a soft drink
The Coca-Cola Company described the original Fresca soft drink formula as "a citrus-based, sugar free product - a soft drink, a low-calorie beverage, a mixer, all in one" and said the Fresca name was picked because "it (the word) is "short, memorable and distinctive". Fresca was the second artificially sweetened, low-calorie product launched by The Coca-Cola Company. Coca-Cola's
Tab, an artificially sweetened, low-calorie cola made its debut in 1963.
Fresca is a rarity in Coca-Cola's beverage portfolio as
PepsiCo
PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...
does not offer an equivalent product.
Test marketing
Coca-Cola began limited test marketing of Fresca in 1964.
1965 saw expanded test marketing in Providence, Rhode Island and Seattle-Tacoma, Washington.
Introduction
![Original Fresca Bottle, circa 1966, designed by industrial designers, Hodgman-Bourke of New York, Nw York](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Original_Fresca_Bottle%2C_circa_1966%2C_designed_by_industrial_designers%2C_Hodgman-Bourke_of_New_York%2C_Nw_York.jpg)
Fresca was introduced across the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and in international markets in 1966.
Since its introduction,
Fresca has been marketed in the United States as a sugar-free, citrus (lime and grapefruit) flavored
diet
Diet may refer to:
Food
* Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group
* Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake
** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
soft drink.
In 1966 then Coca-Cola Company president
J. Paul Austin announced the company's profits had doubled since 1959 and said "Other developments, notably the introduction of Fresca, now underway, promise further advancement in the refreshment industry".
Multiple references in contemporary newspapers and Coca-Cola corporate websites refer to a wide 1966 US and international rollout of the Fresca soft drink brand. A single entry on one Coca-Cola website erroneously refers to a 1958 introduction of Fresca in the United States. There are no newspaper articles or media references that support that date.
In 1967 Larrie L. Isenring, general manager of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Madison (Wisconsin) said the "newly introduced Fresca and pre-brewed coffee were the company's fastest growing products".
Sales of Fresca quickly exploded. By March 1967,
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. forecast increasing profits for Coca-Cola, saying "we believe Fresca... may be the nation's number three soft drink by the end of the year".
By 1969, Fresca had the highest market share of all artificially sweetened soft drinks in America.
Original bottle design
Fresca was originally sold in 10 ounce bottles designed by the industrial design firm Hodgman-Bourke of New York, New York. The green glass bottle featured a groove under the logo panel designed to catch condensation from the top half of bottle. Dimples on the bottle's lower half were meant to represent bubbles from the soda's carbonation.
Initial marketing campaign
"Blizzard of Flavor"
F. William Free, creative director of the Marschalk Company advertising agency, created the initial marketing campaign for Fresca, branding the soda "the 'Blizzard of Flavor'. Free had earlier orchestrated the introduction of Sprite and Tab for Coca-Cola.
The agency's unifying theme for the brand's marketing centered around Fresca having a "blizzard" of "frosty taste". The soda was said to be "cool, crisp, frosty and refreshing".
A 1966 newspaper ad headline read "Here. The frosty taste of Fresca. It's a blizzard". The ad copy used 25 adjectives to describe Fresca's "blizzard taste".
National newspaper introduction advertising
The "Blizzard" campaign included a major market, full color pre-print newspaper advertising program reported to have cost "over a million dollars" which launched in the spring of 1967. The campaign consisted of three successive themes. The first was "Blizzard Kickoff", aimed at supporting the local introduction of Fresca by regional bottlers, the second was "Fresca and Sherbert" which explained how to use Fresca and other food ingredients for snacks and drinks. The third was named "Blizzard Girls" which featured "The Fresca Girls", models dressed in fur-trimmed parkas with hoods, photographed drinking Fresca in falling snow while riding a zebra, a miniature car, a Vespa scooter and walking a Saint Bernard. The campaign achieved some of the highest levels of consumer awareness for any consumer product at that time.
Musical theme song
The marketing campaign included a theme song "The Blizzard Song", written by
Gary McFarland
Gary Robert McFarland (October 23, 1933 – November 3, 1971) was an American composer, arranger, vibraphonist and vocalist. He recorded for the jazz imprints Verve and Impulse! Records during the 1960s. '' Down Beat magazine'' said he made "one ...
which was recorded by
Mitch Miller
Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...
and
Trini Lopez
Trinidad López III (May 15, 1937 – August 11, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and actor. His first album included a cover version of Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer", which earned a Golden Disc for him. His other hits included ...
. Both versions were used in TV ads for Fresca and were also issued as a four-song 45 rpm record.
The Miller record "Mitch Miller – Singin' Up A Blizzard", featured a sleeve printed with the slogan "Hey gang, sing up a blizzard with us! Mitch". The reverse of the sleeve featured a headline "Have a Singing, Swing Blizzard of a Party With Fresca" and included recipes of food and mixed drinks that used Fresca as an ingredient. The Miller record was used in a promotion campaign which encouraged consumers to save Fresca bottle caps and redeem them for a copy of the record.
The Lopez record "Trini Lopez – Sings His Greatest Hits" featured three songs from Lopez' repertoire as well as his version of McFarland's "The Blizzard Song". This record was issued with a printed sleeve with an ad on the back that said "The frosty taste of Fresca. It's a blizzard!" The sleeve had a flap with a die-cut hole and was hung from a bottle in six and eight-pack bottle cartons of Fresca. The record was included at no charge.
New York City marketing launch and blizzard
F. William Free orchestrated an elaborate formal marketing debut on February 7, 1967, held at the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York city's Seagram's building. The fountain in the middle of the restaurant was frozen, and six "Fresca bottles", women who wore replicas of the top half of Fresca bottles covering their head to their waists skated and danced through the night while the Mitch Miller Orchestra entertained guests with the Fresca "Blizzard Theme" and other hits.
The "Blizzard" campaign took advantage of an incredible, unplanned marketing opportunity. The day after the Four Seasons premiere, New York City received a foot of snow. Free took advantage of the snow storm and created memorable marketing for the new brand. Free was photographed holding a bottle of Fresca in the middle of the snow storm. His photograph appeared in full-page Fresca New York newspaper ads the next day with the headline "New York – We're Sorry".
Notable Fresca fans
U.S. President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
was known to greatly enjoy Fresca, which was introduced late in his term. Most days Johnson would push his "Fresca button" to order a bottle of Fresca, often accompanied by his favorite
chicken fried steak and
mashed potatoes
Mashed potato or mashed potatoes (American and Canadian English), colloquially known as mash (British English), is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butter, salt and pepper. It is generally served as a ...
.
Bravo
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
*Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
*Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...
network television host
Andy Cohen
Andrew Joseph Cohen (born June 2, 1968) is an American radio and television talk show host, producer, and writer.
Cohen is the host and executive producer of Bravo's late night talk show, '' Watch What Happens Live!'' He also has a pop culture ...
often drinks a "Frequila" during his show. The
cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across ...
is a mixture of Fresca and
tequila
Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the Agave tequilana, blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands ...
.
David Plotz
David A. Plotz (born 31 January 1970) is an American journalist and former CEO of ''Atlas Obscura'', an online magazine devoted to discovery and exploration. A writer with '' Slate'' since its inception in 1996, Plotz was the online magazine's edi ...
, former editor of online magazine
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
and founder and CEO of the local-news podcast network, City Cast is said to be "a hard-core addict of the citrus-flavored soft drink" Fresca.
Fresca is prominently featured in the superhero television series ''
The Boys'', where it is the favored drink of the
cult
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
ish Church of the Collective, leading to fan speculation as to its potential meaning. It was eventually revealed that the show's writers found it "hilarious" that cult members would drink Fresca, and it just became a running gag with no deeper meaning.
Formula changes
Fresca was originally marketed in the United States as a sugar-free, citrus (lime and grapefruit) flavored
diet
Diet may refer to:
Food
* Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group
* Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake
** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
soft drink.
Fresca has undergone several major ingredient and formula changes since its introduction. Fresca was originally sweetened with
cyclamates which were banned by the FDA in 1969. They were replaced with
saccharin
Saccharin (''aka'' saccharine, Sodium sacchari) is an artificial sweetener with effectively no nutritional value. It is about 550 times as sweet as sucrose but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations. Saccharin is u ...
and in turn, they were replaced by
NutraSweet
The NutraSweet Company is an American nutrient company that produces and markets NutraSweet Neotame, their trademarked brand name for the high-intensity sweetener neotame.
In 2021, NutraSweet was placed 43rd by FoodTalks' list of Top 50 Global S ...
-brand
aspartame
Aspartame is an artificial non-saccharide sweetener 200 times sweeter than sucrose and is commonly used as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages. It is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide with the trade names ...
.
According to The Coca-Cola Company, in 1980 an improved Fresca formulation, supported by new packaging, brand graphics and advertising, reached full national availability. The brand refresh was supported by "the most extensive sampling program ever conducted for a soft drink product". Around the time of the 2005 Fresca redesign,
acesulfame potassium was added as a secondary sweetener.
![Mex fresca](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Mex_fresca.jpg)
Coca-Cola marketed a sugar sweetened version of Fresca in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
. In 1997,
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...
responded to requests for this product from immigrant communities by launching it throughout the US as
Citra. This was a success but is instead sold as the Citrus flavor in Coca-Cola's
Fanta
Fanta is an American-owned German brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks created by Coca-Cola Deutschland under the leadership of German businessman Max Keith. There are more than 200 flavors worldwide. Fanta originated in Germany as ...
line in areas with large Hispanic populations. In
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
and
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
sweetened Fresca is called
Quatro and marketed using Fresca's colors and logos.
Fresca was made available in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
during the early 1990s with a series of colorful ads featuring British-Nigerian actor
Hakeem Kae-Kazim
Hakeem is an Arabic-language given name, a romanization variant of Hakim. It can also be used as a surname. Notablle people with the name include: Given name
* Hakeem Abdul-Saboor
* Hakeem Abdul-Shaheed
* Hakeem Adeniji
* Hakeem al-Araibi
* Hakee ...
with the slogan "Nothing tastes like Fresca". The soft drink developed a cult following but sales were discontinued.
Packaging changes
Fresca packaging has been redesigned several times. In 2005, Coca-Cola gave Fresca a more contemporary look, Fresca's first packaging makeover since 1995. During this redesign, two new flavors were introduced (''Sparkling Peach Citrus'' and ''Sparkling Black Cherry Citrus'') and the original grapefruit flavor was renamed ''Sparkling Citrus''. Later, "Sparkling" was dropped and the original flavor was renamed ''Original Citrus''. Several additional flavors were added to the line-up after 2005, but those flavors were dropped.
Coca-Cola announced revamped packaging again in 2018 along with a new marketing campaign targeted towards
millennials
Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000 ...
– the first Fresca advertising since 2008 – with the stated intention of "reeling in a new generation of drinkers unfamiliar with the brand". The marketing described it as a "sparkling flavored soda", meant to compete with other sparkling beverage products such as
La Croix La Croix primarily refers to:
* ''La Croix'' (newspaper), a French Catholic newspaper
* La Croix Sparkling Water, a beverage distributed by the National Beverage Corporation
La Croix or Lacroix may also refer to:
Places
* Lacroix-Barrez, a muni ...
and
Izze.
Currently, Fresca has been rebranded as "Fresca Sparkling Soda Water", reformulated in four flavors, Grapefruit Citrus, Black Cherry Citrus, Peach Citrus and Blackberry Citrus and described as "The original no sugar, no calorie sparkling beverage". In the US, Fresca is currently sold in plastic bottles and aluminum cans.
Ingredients
Fresca Original Grapefruit Citrus
United States and Canada:
*
Carbonated water
Carbonated water (also known as soda water, sparkling water, fizzy water, club soda, water with gas, in many places as mineral water, or especially in the United States as seltzer or seltzer water) is water containing dissolved carbon dioxide gas, ...
*
Citric acid
Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC(CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2. It is a colorless weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in t ...
*
Concentrate
A concentrate is a form of Chemical substance, substance that has had the majority of its base component (in the case of a liquid: the solvent) removed. Typically, this will be the removal of water from a Solution (chemistry), solution or suspens ...
d
grapefruit juice
Grapefruit juice is the juice from grapefruits. It is rich in vitamin C and ranges from sweet-tart to very sour. Variations include white grapefruit, pink grapefruit and ruby red grapefruit juice.The World's Healthiest Foods; Grapefruit. ''The ...
*
Potassium citrate
Potassium citrate (also known as tripotassium citrate) is a potassium salt of citric acid with the molecular formula K3C6H5O7. It is a white, hygroscopic crystalline powder. It is odorless with a saline taste. It contains 38.28% potassium by mass ...
*
Aspartame
Aspartame is an artificial non-saccharide sweetener 200 times sweeter than sucrose and is commonly used as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages. It is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide with the trade names ...
*
Potassium sorbate
Potassium sorbate is the potassium salt of sorbic acid, chemical formula CH3CH=CH−CH=CH−CO2K. It is a white salt that is very soluble in water (58.2% at 20 °C). It is primarily used as a food preservative (E number 202). Potassium sor ...
*
Acacia gum
Gum arabic, also known as gum sudani, acacia gum, Arabic gum, gum acacia, acacia, Senegal gum, Indian gum, and by other names, is a natural gum originally consisting of the hardened sap of two species of the ''Acacia'' tree, '' Senegalia se ...
*
Acesulfame potassium
*
Natural flavors
A flavoring (or flavouring), also known as flavor (or flavour) or flavorant, is a food additive used to improve the taste or smell of food. It changes the perceptual impression of food as determined primarily by the chemoreceptors of the gustat ...
*
Glycerol ester of wood rosin
*
Potassium benzoate
Potassium benzoate (E212), the potassium salt of benzoic acid, is a food preservative that inhibits the growth of mold, yeast and some bacteria. It works best in low- pH products, below 4.5, where it exists as benzoic acid.
Acidic foods and bev ...
*
Calcium Disodium EDTA
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is an aminopolycarboxylic acid with the formula H2N(CH2CO2H)2sub>2. This white, water-soluble solid is widely used to bind to iron (Fe2+/Fe3+) and calcium ions (Ca2+), forming water-soluble complexes eve ...
*
Carob
The carob ( ; ''Ceratonia siliqua'') is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub-family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit pods, and as an ornamental tree in gardens and landscap ...
bean gum
See also
*
Grapefruit–drug interactions
Some fruit juices and fruits can interact with numerous drugs, in many cases causing adverse effects. The effect is most studied with grapefruit and grapefruit juice, but similar effects have been observed with certain other citrus fruits.
The ...
References
External links
Official Fresca product website
{{Citrus sodas
Coca-Cola brands
Diet drinks
Grapefruit sodas
Products introduced in 1966