Up until the mid-1990s, Jones Soda was a beverage distributor in western Canada for many popular beverages, such as Arizona Iced Tea. When they wanted to develop their own brand of sodas for the emerging alternative beverage market in 1996, so they called Flavorman.
In just one month, Flavorman developed all 10 original Jones Sodas flavors, and they were manufactured just one month later. The original flavors were Grape, Cherry, Strawberry Lime, Lemon Lime, Root Beer, Blue Bubblegum, Vanilla Cola, Orange, FuFu Berry, and Cream Soda.
As the relationship grew, Flavorman developed over 15 more soda flavors for Jones, including Green Apple, Pineapple Upside Down, Happy, Crushed Melon, Berry Lemonade, Big Ass Canned Ham Soda (for The David Letterman Show), Billy Pop (for the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade), and diet versions of Lime Cola, Black Cherry, Cream Soda, Root Beer, Pink, Fruit Punch, Lemon Drop, Orange Cream, Peachy Keen, Strawberry & Cream, and MF Grape.
What Came Next?
After the initial run of Jones Soda, Flavorman was called upon to develop Jones Naturals. The Naturals were soft drinks made with sugar, all-natural ingredients, herbs, and no preservatives. The flavor line included Peach Ginseng, Lemon Ginger, Passion, and Root Beer. The Jones Naturals were tunnel pasteurized in the same bottle as distributed and sold mostly through health food stores.
In August 1999, Jones wanted to develop its own energy drink to take advantage of this emerging segment. In one month, Flavorman developed WhoopAss energy drink. It was an ambitious feat, but the new energy beverage was readily embraced by the Jones executive team. Shortly after, a line extension was produced for the Canadian market, meeting the more stringent Canadian food rules and regulations.
In spring 2001, Jones called on Flavorman once again to develop a line of juices. These were eventually sold under the Jones Naturals name and included 10 flavors. The flavor Dave was named after Flavorman’s founder, Dave Dafoe, for his outstanding partnership in launching the Jones Soda brands.
Taking Full-Service to a Whole New Level
Beyond development, the Flavorman teams set up and maintained quality control at all the co-packing plants responsible for manufacturing Jones Soda, Natural Jones, and WhoopAss Energy drink. They monitored plants in Eastern Canada, Western Canada, Southern California, Northern California, Indiana, Missouri, and Kentucky. To maintain quality at each plant, Flavorman wrote quality control manuals, monitored the first production, and set up shelf life studies.
As market demand increased and Jones Soda was ramping up production across North America, the development experts at Flavorman proved invaluable as technical brand managers too, ensuring that every product was manufactured to specification every time.
This was all quite a while ago, but for Flavorman, the Jones Soda partnership remains a sterling example of Flavorman’s credo: “from start through finish!â€
When you’re ready to talk about your drink idea, give us a call at (502) 273-5214 or get started by telling us your story here. To learn more about Flavorman, see our process.
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