Farmers Union Iced Coffee facts for kids
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| Type | Milk beverage |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Bega Group |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Introduced | 1977 |
| Flavour | Coffee |
| Variants | Farmers Union Iced Coffee Regular, Farmers Union Iced Coffee Strong, Farmers Union Iced Coffee ONE, Farmers Union Iced Coffee EDGE. |
Farmers Union Iced Coffee is a popular coffee-flavored milk drink from Australia. It's especially well-known in South Australia. The drink is made by Bega Dairy & Drinks, which is part of the Bega Group. This company used to be a co-operative of dairy farmers called Farmers Union.
Contents
How It Started
Farmers Union Iced Coffee first came out in 1977. Back then, Farmers Union was a group of dairy farmers in South Australia. Over time, this drink became very famous in South Australia. Now, you can find it in all parts of Australia.
This "iced coffee" drink is made with coffee, a type of sugar called glucose, and milk. In the past, it also had an ingredient called "iced confection." When that ingredient was removed, the taste of the drink changed quite a bit.
Sizes and Packaging
You can usually buy Farmers Union Iced Coffee in 600 mL and 375 mL cardboard cartons. In 2019, the 375 mL cartons were changed to smaller 300 mL bottles. These bottles look similar to the larger 750 mL "Stubby" bottles. The standard 600 mL cartons are still the same. You can also find it in 2-liter plastic cartons and 500 mL bottles.
Popularity Across Australia
In 2003, Australians drank more than 22 million liters of Farmers Union Iced Coffee. This made it Australia's top-selling flavored milk drink at that time. Because it's so popular, some McDonald's, KFC, and Hungry Jack's restaurants across Australia now sell it.
Even some car designs have been influenced by its popularity! The cup holders in certain Mitsubishi Magna and Holden Cruze cars were made to hold both regular round drinks and the unique shape of Farmers Union Iced Coffee cartons. Many other companies now make their own iced coffee drinks, trying to compete with Farmers Union.
Funny Commercials
Farmers Union Iced Coffee is also famous for its funny TV commercials in Australia. One well-known ad showed tough male workers doing ballet with big machines. Their boss had promised them a truckload of iced coffee if they all took up ballet.
Another popular series of ads featured a serious voice-over talking about big world events. But on screen, it showed everyday Australian situations that were a bit silly. Here are some examples:
- "When the wall came down" showed two men knocking down a wall during a home project. This was a funny take on the fall of the Berlin Wall.
- "Survived the Apollo Disaster" showed three drivers, one drinking Iced Coffee, as their car was towed away after a small accident. This was a playful nod to the Apollo 13 space mission, where astronauts safely returned to Earth after an explosion.
- "There when the bras were burnt" showed a man watching TV while an iron accidentally burned a bra in the background. This was a lighthearted reference to a famous moment in feminism.
- "When Chisel broke up" showed a builder holding two pieces of a broken chisel. This was a joke about the Australian band, Cold Chisel, breaking up.
- "Saw Cathy in Sydney in 2000" showed a man meeting an old friend named Cathy in Sydney. This was a humorous link to Cathy Freeman winning a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
- "Lived through the Millennium Bug" showed a man in a fancy suit in a sleeping bag, drinking Iced Coffee and swatting a bug. This was a funny way to talk about the Y2K bug scare.
- "...and Trevor's Underarm" showed two construction workers drinking Iced Coffee. One lifted his arm, showing body odor, and the other reacted in disgust. This was a joke about Trevor Chappell's famous underarm delivery in a cricket match.
- "Strongly opposed the Bush Invasion" showed a man trimming his neighbor's overgrown bushes. This was a humorous play on words related to a political event.
New Flavors Over Time
On October 23, 2006, Farmers Union released two new flavors in South Australia. One was Farmers Union Strong Iced Coffee, which has a bolder coffee taste. This flavor later became available in Tasmania. The other was Farmers Union Light Iced Coffee, which had no added sugar. It used a sugar substitute and tasted similar to the original.
The company says that both the original and Light flavors have about 18 mg of caffeine per 100 mL. The Strong Iced Coffee has more, with about 24 mg of caffeine per 100 mL.
The Light Iced Coffee wasn't very popular because many people preferred the original taste. So, in August 2011, the company launched a new product called Farmers Union Iced Coffee One. They said it had "100% taste, 1% fat and no added sugar" and was a completely new recipe. At first, "One" wasn't super popular either, partly because of the Light Iced Coffee's reputation. To help it, there was a big promotion in December 2011. People could get a free Iced Coffee One from certain stores by using a coupon from the internet.
See also
- Farmers Union (brand)
- South Australian food and drink
