R. White's

R. White's
R. White's lemonade, est. 1845
TypeCarbonated lemonade
ManufacturerBritvic
Country of origin United Kingdom
Introduced1845; 179 years ago (1845)

R. White's is a British brand of a carbonated lemonade, which is produced and sold in the United Kingdom by Britvic. Robert and Mary White produced the first R. White's lemonade in Camberwell, south London, in 1845.[1] The White Family took over H. D. Rawlings Ltd. in 1891, the year that it was incorporated—a merger which made White's the biggest soft drinks company in London and the south-east—and then R. White & Sons Ltd. was itself incorporated in 1894.[2][3] The company was taken over by Whitbread in the 1960s, and was later absorbed by Britvic in 1986, when Britvic and Canada Dry Rawlings Ltd. merged.

In the 1970s R. White's also made orangeade, dandelion and burdock, and cream soda. The lemonade product, formerly made using sugar, has (as of 2012, possibly earlier) changed the traditional recipe, replacing some sugar with aspartame, saccharin and acesulfame K.[4] R. White's still contains real lemons and is available in regular, diet, Traditional Cloudy, Raspberry, Pear and Elderflower varieties. A television commercial from the 1970s, "Secret Lemonade Drinker", was ranked seventh in a 2000 UK wide poll of "The 100 Greatest TV Ads".[5]

  1. ^ "Chester homeless charity teams up with lemonade brand". Chester Chronicle. 8 October 2017.
  2. ^ ""Secret lemonade drinker": the story of R White's and successors in Barking and Essex". Barking and District Historical Society. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  3. ^ "R.White & Sons Limited". Gov.uk. Companies House. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Premium Lemonade". Britvic.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-11.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference poll was invoked but never defined (see the help page).