Lemon & Paeroa, also known as L&P, is a sweet

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 ...

manufactured in New Zealand. Created in 1907, it was traditionally made by combining lemon juice with carbonated mineral water from the town of Paeroa, but is now owned and manufactured by multi-national Coca-Cola. Lemon & Paeroa is a popular drink in New Zealand and is available in several Australian supermarkets, formerly sold in Gourmet Burger Kitchen restaurants in the United Kingdom, and in some specialty stores. L&P is used as a mixer in New Zealand bars, particularly with Southern Comfort. The comically pretentious advertising slogan "

World famous in New Zealand The phrase "world famous in New Zealand" is a commonly used phrase within New Zealand and the slogan of Lemon & Paeroa soft drink. It is used to describe items that though famous within New Zealand are unknown in the rest of the world, whereas si ...

" has become a popular New Zealand saying. It is used to describe items that are famous within New Zealand but unknown in the rest of the world, and implies that similar items and people in larger countries would have a far higher media profile and would be famous worldwide. In 2005 "''Sweet As'' L&P" with artificial sweetener

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 ...

was introduced with the modified slogan "World Famous in New Zealand since quite recently", and the traditional product began being advertised as "World Famous in New Zealand since Ages ago".

History

Analysis of Paeroa mineral water by Arthur Wohlman in 1904 revealed magnesium bicarbonate in a concentration of 73 grains to the gallon (1040 mg/L). In 1908 the property containing the mineral spring was purchased by Robert Fewell and his brother-in-law Frank Brinkler. Their company Paeroa Natural Mineral Water Company, bottled the spring water until 1915 when they sold the company to Menzies and Company who, in turn, opened a new factory in Paeroa in 1926. In the late 1940s 'Lemon and Paeroa' and 'Paeroa and Lemon' were both marketed. In 1963 Menzies and Co merged with Hamilton-based bottlers CL Innes, and L&P took on the ''Innes Tartan'' as a motif on the neck of the L&P bottle. This continued until the late 1970s, when L&P was taken over by Oasis Industries, before it was, in turn, taken over by Coca-Cola. In the late 1980s, a collaboration of New Zealand music artists under the name '80 in the Shade' recorded a cover of

Martha and the Vandellas Martha and the Vandellas (known from 1967 to 1972 as Martha Reeves & The Vandellas) were an American vocal girl group formed in Detroit in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s with Motown. An act founded by friends Annette Beard, Rosalind ...

song ''

(Love is Like A) Heat Wave "Heat Wave" is a 1963 song written by the Holland–Dozier–Holland songwriting team. It was first made popular by the Motown vocal group Martha and the Vandellas. Released as a 45 rpm single on July 9, 1963, on the Motown subsidiary Gordy lab ...

'', to promote the drink. L&P itself is now made by Coca-Cola in Auckland, on the same production line as the company's other beverages. However, there is a giant L&P bottle in Paeroa near the site where the product was originally manufactured. The company has licensed an official L&P Kiwiana shop and café.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemon and Paeroa New Zealand cuisine New Zealand drinks Coca-Cola brands Lemon sodas 1908 introductions

History

See also

References