Woodroofe facts for kids
Woodroofe (often called Woodies) is a popular brand of soft drinks made in South Australia. It has been around for a very long time, making refreshing drinks for families.
The Story of Woodroofe Drinks
Woodroofe started way back in 1878. A person named William Woodroofe, and also Bruce Randall, began the company. Their first factory was in Norwood, South Australia. It was built near a natural spring, which provided fresh water for all their drinks.
Woodroofe was known for new and exciting products. They also did a great job of telling people about their drinks. This helped them succeed for over 100 years. Their most popular drink then, and still today, is lemonade.
In the 1970s, bigger national companies started to grow. Also, international brands like Coca-Cola became very popular. This made it harder for Woodroofe to keep its strong position in the market.
The Woodroofe business was owned by the same family for many years. Then, two businessmen from Adelaide, Michael Harbison and Tim Hartley, bought the company. They worked to make the business exciting again. They even added new flavours, like fruit-flavoured mineral water. For a short time, they also bottled RC Cola.
In the 1980s, Kathy and Michael Harbison (who later became the Lord Mayor of Adelaide) bought Woodroofe together with the Hartley family. Kathy Harbison helped manage the company every day.
In 1983, they made Woodroofe a public company. This meant people could buy shares in the business on the Adelaide Stock Exchange. Later, the South Australian Brewing Company bought the soft drink part of Woodroofe. They then sold it to Cadbury Schweppes.
Cadbury Schweppes closed the old factory in Norwood. They moved all the drink making to their factory in nearby Payneham. In 2009, a company called Asahi bought Schweppes.
Today, Woodroofe soft drinks are still sold as a local brand in South Australia. However, Asahi/Schweppes closed the Payneham factory in 2016. They moved their drink production to Melbourne and Perth.
Woodroofe Flavours
Woodroofe's most famous and loved flavour is lemonade. For many years, it was advertised with a catchy slogan: "Still the best lemonade made." Many generations of South Australian parents would give their sick children boiled Woodroofe's lemonade. This was often suggested by doctors.
Woodroofe also made other special flavours. These included "Big Sars" sarsaparilla. Another unique one was "Sno-Top." This was a brown, vanilla-flavoured cream soda. Besides these, Woodroofe's also makes a range of fruit-flavoured drinks.
One old flavour that is no longer made is Kola Beer. However, a similar drink is now made by Bickford's. In the 1960s, Woodroofe's even made a chocolate-flavoured fizzy drink called Woc.
See also
