Hawaiian Punch is a brand of

fruit punch The term punch refers to a wide assortment of drinks, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic, generally containing fruits or fruit juice. The drink was introduced from the Indian subcontinent to England by employees of the East India Company in the ...

currently manufactured by

Keurig Dr Pepper Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., formerly Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (1981–2014) and Keurig Green Mountain (2014–2018), is a publicly traded American beverage and coffeemaker conglomerate with headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts. Formed i ...

, originally invented in 1934 by A.W. Leo, Tom Yeats, and Ralph Harrison as a topping for

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

. It was started from an original syrup flavor called Leo's Hawaiian Punch, containing

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

passion fruit ''Passiflora edulis,'' commonly known as passion fruit, is a vine species of passion flower native to southern Brazil through Paraguay and northern Argentina. It is cultivated commercially in tropical and subtropical areas for its sweet, seedy ...

, guava and papaya, and is currently offering 14 different flavors since 2020. The drink is currently made with 3% fruit juice. In 1961, the Atherton-Privett ad agency created a 20-second commercial to advertise Hawaiian Punch drink.

History

Leo's Hawaiian Punch was created as an ice cream topping syrup in 1934 by A.W. Leo, Tom Yeats, and Ralph Harrison in a converted garage in Fullerton, California. It originally contained 5 fruit juices: orange, pineapple, passion fruit, guava and papaya—all imported from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. Although customers later discovered that it made an appealing drink when mixed with water, Hawaiian Punch (with "Leo's" name omitted) was only available wholesale in gallon glass jugs to

ice cream parlors Ice cream parlors (American English) or ice cream parlours (British English) are places that sell ice cream, gelato, sorbet, and/or frozen yogurt to consumers. Ice cream is typically sold as regular ice cream (also called hard-packed or hard s ...

and

soda fountains A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The device combines flavored syrup or syrup concentrat ...

. The original company was named Pacific Citrus Products (PCP). In 1946, Reuben P. Hughes purchased the company and renamed it the Pacific Hawaiian Products Company and quickly set about making Hawaiian Punch Base available directly to consumers in 1 quart glass containers. The immediate post-war period saw the introduction of ready-to-serve Hawaiian Punch in 46 oz tins (1950) & frozen concentrate (1955). Sometime around 1954, the brand was expanded to a second flavor, Sunshine Yellow. The original red Hawaiian Punch became the "Rosy" flavor. At that same time, a sixth fruit flavor, apricot puree, was added to the formula. The Sunshine Yellow flavor omitted the orange juice of the original and replaced the original red food coloring with yellow. By 1955, Hawaiian Punch had become a national brand.

R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) is an American tobacco manufacturing company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and headquartered at the RJR Plaza Building. Founded by R. J. Reynolds in 1875, it is the second-largest tobacco comp ...

bought Pacific Hawaiian in 1962 and later transferred it to its newly acquired Del Monte subsidiary in 1981.

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

bought Hawaiian Punch from

Del Monte Foods Del Monte Foods, Inc (trading as Del Monte Foods) is an American food production and distribution company headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. Del Monte Foods is one of the country's largest producers, distributors and marketer of br ...

, spun off from RJR Nabisco in 1989, a year later. Procter & Gamble sold Hawaiian Punch to

Cadbury Schweppes Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...

in 1999.

Dr Pepper Snapple Dr Pepper Snapple Group (also called Dr. Pepper/7up Inc.) was an American multinational soft drink company based in Plano, Texas, and as of July 2018 it is a division (business), business unit of the publicly traded conglomerate Keurig Dr Pepper ...

was spun off from

in 2008. In 2018, Dr Pepper Snapple merged with Keurig Green Mountain to become Keurig Dr Pepper.

Mascot

In 1961, the Atherton-Privett ad agency created a 20-second commercial to advertise Hawaiian Punch drink. The commercial was produced by John Urie and Associates in Hollywood. Jean Guy Jacques was the director; Bob Guidi and John Urie designed the two characters, Punchy and Oaf.

Ross Martin Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sout ...

did Punchy's voice, "Hey! How 'bout a nice Hawaiian Punch?" and John Urie did Oaf's line, "Sure". Rod Scribner animated the commercials. Sam Cornell also worked on the later versions. Oaf never learned to say "No" and he was always punched. The commercial ended with Punchy leaning on a can of Hawaiian Punch, saying, "Wasn't that a refreshing commercial?" The commercial won many awards. The Punchy and Oaf (sometimes called "Opie") characters were used in the product's commercials well into the 1980s, and again for a period in the early 1990s.

Flavors

Original Syrup

* Leo's Hawaiian Punch (became Hawaiian Punch, but the original consumer product in 1946 was called Hawaiian Punch Base)

Original canned flavors

* Rosy Red (later Fruit Juicy) * Sunshine Yellow

2 additional flavors by 1966

* Orange * Grape (Sunshine Yellow contained banana puree by 1966)

Other flavors 1967 & later

* Cherry * Strawberry * Lemonade

Added 1969

* Fruit Juicy Red Low Calorie

Added 1971

* Cherry Royal

1975 canned flavors

* Fruit Juicy Red * Great Grape * Sunshine Orange * Tropical Fruit * Very Berry * Fruit Punch Low Sugar

1975 "Drink Mix" flavors

*Red Punch *Strawberry Punch *Tutti Frutti Punch

Post-1980 canned flavors

* Fruit Juicy Red * Fruit Juicy Red Light * Green Berry Rush: strawberry and kiwi * Mazin' Melon Mix: melon * Bodacious Berry: berry * Orange Ocean: orange * Wild Purple Smash: grape and berry * Lemonade: old-fashioned lemonade * Berry Blue Typhoon: strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and kiwi * Berry Bonkers: strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and pomegranate * Lemon Berry Squeeze: strawberry and lemonade * Berry Limeade Blast: strawberry and

limeade Limeade is a lime-flavored drink sweetened with sugar. A typical method of preparation is to juice limes, and combine the juice with simple syrup or honey syrup, along with some additional water and perhaps more sugar or honey. Vodka or white ...

* Lemon Lime Splash: lemon and lime * Island Citrus Guava: guava and lime * Polar Blast: orange and raspberry * Mango Passionfruit Squeeze: mango and passion fruit * Mango Monsoon: orange, mango and pineapple * White Water Wave: coconut and pineapple * Watermelon Berry Boom: strawberry and watermelon

Product flavors since 2020

The following fruit flavors are offered by Keurig Dr Pepper: * Hawaiian Punch Berry Blue Typhoon Juice Drink * Hawaiian Punch Berry Bonkers Juice Drink * Hawaiian Punch Berry Limeade Blast Juice Drink * Hawaiian Punch Fruit Juicy Red Juice Drink * Hawaiian Punch Fruit Juicy Red Juice Drink Light * Hawaiian Punch Green Berry Rush Juice Drink * Hawaiian Punch Lemon Berry Squeeze Juice Drink * Hawaiian Punch Lemon Lime Splash Juice Drink * Hawaiian Punch Lemonade Juice Drink * Hawaiian Punch Mango Monsoon Juice Drink * Hawaiian Punch Orange Ocean Juice Drink * Hawaiian Punch Punch Polar Blast Juice Drink * Hawaiian Punch Watermelon Berry Boom Juice Drink * Hawaiian Punch Whitewater Wave Juice Drink

References

External links

*
History of Hawaiian Punch
{{Keurig Dr Pepper brands Keurig Dr Pepper brands Juice brands Products introduced in 1934