Mountain Dew

This article is about the drink. For other uses, see Mountain Dew (disambiguation).
For home-made high-proof distilled spirits also known as mountain dew, see Moonshine.
Further information: List of Mountain Dew flavors and varieties

Mountain Dew
Plastic bottle of Mountain Dew as sold in the Philippines
TypeCitrus soft drink
ManufacturerPepsiCo
Country of origin United States
Introduced1940; 84 years ago (1940)
Related products
Websitemountaindew.com
Alternative logo with "Mtn Dew" lettering

Mountain Dew, stylized as Mtn Dew in some countries, is a soft drink brand, produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in 1940 by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman. A revised formula was created by Bill Bridgforth[1] in 1958. The rights to this formula were obtained by the Tip Corporation of Marion, Virginia.[2] William H. "Bill" Jones of the Tip Corporation further refined the formula, launching that version of Mountain Dew in 1961.[3] In August 1964, the Mountain Dew brand and production rights were acquired from Tip by the Pepsi-Cola company, and the distribution expanded across the United States and Canada.[4]

Between the 1940s and 1980s there was only one variety of Mountain Dew, which was citrus-flavored and caffeinated in most markets. Diet Mountain Dew was introduced in 1988,[5] followed by Mountain Dew Red, which was introduced and discontinued in 1988.[6] In 2001, a cherry-flavored variant called Code Red debuted. Expansions of the product line have continued to this day, including specialty offerings, limited time productions, region-specific and retailer-specific flavors of Mountain Dew.

Production was extended to the United Kingdom in 1996,[7] but was phased out in 1998. A similarly named but different-tasting product, with a recipe more similar to the original American product[8] has been sold in the U.K. under the name "Mountain Dew Energy" since 2010 and in Ireland since the spring of 2011. As of 2017, Mountain Dew represented a 6.6% share of the carbonated soft drinks market in the U.S.[9] Its competition includes the Coca-Cola Company's Mello Yello and Surge, and Keurig Dr Pepper's Sun Drop; Mountain Dew accounted for 80% of citrus soft drinks sold within the U.S. in 2010.[10][clarification needed]

  1. ^ Mason, Doug (16 September 2007). "Drinking in History". Knoxville News Sentinel. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014.
  2. ^ Maddry, Larry (6 August 1994). "Reprinted Article: Soft drink finally gets its Dew from small Virginia town". Virginian Pilot. Norfolk, VA. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  3. ^ Elledge, Glenna (27 July 1994). "Reprinted Article: Town of Marion recognizes 'Home of Mountain Dew". Smyth County News. Marion, VA. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2014 – via Michael "Fred" Fredericks's Web Site.
  4. ^ Collins, Glenn (16 December 1996). "Coca-Cola, in Direct Attack on Pepsi, to Introduce Challenger to Mountain Dew". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011.
  5. ^ Smith, Andrew (2006). Encyclopedia of junk food and fast food. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. p. 188. ISBN 0-313-33527-3. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference dewhistbook was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Archives, L. A. Times (11 February 1996). "Pepsi Pours Mountain Dew in Britain's 'Gulpable Gap'". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ "Mountain Dew - Q & A's". www.mountaindew.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  9. ^ "Market share of the Mountain Dew brand in the United States from 2004 to 2017". Statista. 26 March 2019. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Branded Entertainment Could Boost PepsiCo". Seeking Alpha. 23 June 2010. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010.