Type Sparkling Water Color Clear | ||
Manufacturer The Clearly Food & Beverage Company, Ltd. Introduced December 1987 (December 1987) Flavor Sparkling Flavoured & Non-Flavoured Similar Original New York Seltzer, Fruitopia, Zima (drink) | ||
Clearly Canadian is a North American multi-SKU premium beverage brand, produced by The Clearly Food & Beverage Company of Canada. The brand was founded in 1987 in British Columbia, Canada and is well known throughout North America, Scandinavia, parts of Europe and Japan and was extremely popular in the 1980s and 1990s.
Contents
History
Founded in 1987 by Doug Mason in British Columbia, Canada the brand is considered by many as the first premium "new age beverage" product that precipitated the multi-billion dollar market as it exists today, and has produced product every year since 1987 except for 2010 and 2011.
Clearly Canadian experienced broad corporate mismanagement during much of the last decade that led to it being acquired by an American-led turnaround team in 2012. Large-scale commercial production is resuming again in Canada after a number of limited short production runs during the 2012 to 2014 period. The company's turnaround was precipitated by an online consumer promoted crowd-sourcing campaign that pre-sold in excess of 25,000 cases.
Acquisitions
The firm has owned at one time or another My Organic Baby, DMR Food Corporation; and Cascade Clear Water Co.
Timeline
Brands, products & flavours
Clearly Canadian has released many product SKUs and formats over the years, including the following flavoured sparkling waters:
Additionally, the brand has released the following products:
Bottle history
Clearly Canadian has been released in a number of packaging formats, principally in glass and PET bottles, that have always highlighted their distinctive flavours with vibrant colours and graphics. The brand's first generation signature "tear drop" glass bottle, shown to the right and for which the brand is famous, is an 11-oz (325-ml) light blue conical bottle. This bottle has come in two styles, one embossed with the name Clearly Canadian on it, the other not. The brand's second generation glass bottle was a 14-oz (414-ml) cylindrical bottle, which has been discontinued. In PET plastic, the brand has been available from time-to-time in standard 16 oz. (448ml) formats.
Beverage ingredients
The beverages have used a number of different ingredients and formulas over the years. Its flagship sparkling flavoured water line uses natural Canadian spring water and natural flavorings. Depending on formulation, the drinks have been sweetened with raw cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose and others.
In popular culture
Throughout the 1990s Clearly Canadian was featured in numerous mainstream television shows and films, including Sex and the City, Seinfeld, Friends, Dawson's Creek, Weekend at Bernie's, Jerry Maguire and more.
In 2014, the popular YouTube channel, Good Mythical Morning, accidentally discovered the Clearly Canadian pre-sales campaign in their "Sewer Adventures" episode of their sixth season, and encouraged their watchers to support the campaign in their "6 Snacks That Should Be Brought Back" episode a few weeks later.