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May 8, 2018 by Alexander Meldrum
Irn-Bru (/?a??rn'bru?/ "iron brew") is a Scottish carbonated soft drink, often described as "Scotland's other national drink" (after whisky).
It is produced in Westfield, Cumbernauld, North Lanark...Irn-Bru (/?a??rn'bru?/ "iron brew") is a Scottish carbonated soft drink, often described as "Scotland's other national drink" (after whisky).
It is produced in Westfield, Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, by A.G. Barr of Glasgow, since moving out of their Parkhead factory in the mid-2000s.
In 2011, Irn Bru closed their factory in Mansfield, making the Westfield plant in Cumbernauld the main location for production.
In addition to being sold throughout the United Kingdom, Barr's Irn-Bru is available throughout the world and can usually be purchased where there is a significant community of people from Scotland.
Innovative and sometimes controversial marketing campaigns have kept it as the number one selling soft drink in Scotland, where it competes directly with global brands such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Early history
The first Iron Brew drink was produced by the Maas & Waldstein chemicals company of New York in 1889 under the name IRONBREW. The drink was popular across North America and was widely copied.
A similar beverage was launched in 1898 by London essence firm Stevenson & Howell who supplied soft drinks manufacturers in the UK and colonies.
Following this date many local bottlers around the UK began selling their own version of the beverage.
Despite the official launch date for Barr's Iron Brew being given as 1901, the firms AG Barr & Co (Glasgow) and Robert Barr (Falkirk) jointly launched their own Iron Brew drink at least two years earlier,
according to a document in the firm's own archives which indicates that the drink was already enjoying strong sales by May 1899.
The strongman image which Barr's adopted for their bottle labels and advertising had in fact been trademarked by the firm Stevenson & Howell in 1898.
Barr's ordered their labels directly from Stevenson & Howell who also sold Barr's many of t
he individual flavours with which they mixed their own drinks. An ad for Barr's Iron Brew dated 1900 featuring the original strongman label can be found in Falkirk's Local History Archives.
Barr's trademark application for the brand name Irn-Bru dates from July 1946 when the drink was still off sale because of wartime regulations.
The firm first commercialised their drink using this new name in 1948 once government SDI consolidation of the soft drinks industry had ended.
The name change followed the introduction of new labelling restrictions which cracked down on spurious health claims and introduced minimum standards for drinks claiming to contain minerals such as iron.
However, according to Robert Barr OBE (chairman 1947–1978), there was also a commercial rationale behind the unusual spelling.
Iron Brew" had come to be understood as a generic product category in the UK, whereas adopting the name "Irn-Bru" allowed the firm to have a legally protected brand identity
that would enable the firm to benefit from the popularity of their wartime "Adventures of Ba-Bru" comic strip advertising.
The "Iron Brew" name has continued to be used for many versions of the drink sold by rival manufacturers.
Recent developments
1980 saw the introduction of Low Calorie Irn-Bru: this was re-launched in 1991 as Diet Irn-Bru and again in 2011 as Irn-Bru Sugar Free. The Irn-Bru 32 energy drink variant was launched in 2006.
It has long been the most popular soft drink in Scotland, with Coca-Cola second, but competition between the two brands has brought their sales to roughly equal levels.
It is also the third best selling soft drink in the UK[citation needed], after Coca-Cola and Pepsi, outselling high-profile brands such as Fanta, Dr Pepper, Sprite and 7-Up.
This success in defending its home market (a feat claimed only by Irn-Bru, Inca Kola and Thums Up; Thums Up sold out to Coca-Cola in 1993, and Inka Kola owners Corporación Lindley S.A.
entered into a joint venture with Coca-Cola in 1999, giving up all rights to the name outside Peru) led to ongoing speculation that Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Inc. or its UK brand franchisee Britvic would attempt to buy A.G. Barr.
In November 2012 AG Barr and Britvic announced a merger proposal, in July 2013 the merger collapsed when terms could not be agreed.
Irn-Bru's advertising slogans used to be 'Scotland's other National Drink', referring to whisky, and 'Made in Scotland from girders', a reference to the rusty colour of the drink;
though the closest one can come to substantiating this claim is the 0.002% ammonium ferric citrate listed in the ingredients.
A limited edition Irn-Bru was released in autumn 2011. Packaged with a black and orange design, and with the signature man icon with an added image of a fire, Fiery Irn-Bru, had a warm,
tingly feeling in the mouth once drunk. It featured the traditional Irn-Bru flavour with an aftertaste similar to ginger.
Irn-Bru was also sold in reusable 750 ml glass bottles which, like other Barr's drinks, were able to be returned to the manufacturer in exchange for a 30 pence (previously 20p) deposit paid on purchase.
This scheme was widely available in shops across Scotland and led to the colloquial term for an empty: a "glass cheque".
As a result of a 40% drop in returned bottles since the 90s Barr deemed the washing and re-filling process uneconomical, and on 1 January 2016 ceased the scheme.
2016 saw the introduction the current logo, conveying strength and an industrial feel, and a new diet variant IRN-BRU Xtra in different branding to the existing sugar free variety in a similar fashion to Coca-Cola Zero and Pepsi Max.
Barr changed the formula of Irn-Bru in January 2018 in response to a sugar tax implemented in the UK in April 2018, intended to combat obesity.
By reducing the sugar content to less than 5g per 100ml, Barr has made Irn-Bru exempt from the tax. The manufacturer asserts that most people will not be able to tell the difference in flavour between the old and new formulas,
but fans of the drink have started the 'Save Real Irn-Bru' campaign to stop or reverse this change, and have been stocking up on the more sugary formula.
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