Charlie's

Last updated

Charlie's Group Limited
Type Subsidiary
Industry Food
GenreBeverage Producer
PredecessorSpectrum Resources [1]
Founded1999;24 years ago (1999)
Founder Marc Ellis
Stefan Lepionka
Simon Neal
Headquarters,
ProductsFruits, Fruit Juices
Revenue NZ$30,046 (2008)
Parent Asahi
Subsidiaries Charlie's Juice
Phoenix Organics [1]
Website Charlies.co.nz

Charlie's Group Limited is a New Zealand-based producer of beverage drinks. It is owned by the Japanese beverage company Asahi.

Charlie's was founded in 1999 by Marc Ellis, Stefan Lepionka and Simon Neal. Originally the company produced fresh orange juice; in 2001, Charlie's added other natural fruit juices. They also sell loose fruit, fruit smoothies and sports water flavoured with fruit juices.

In May 2008, Charlie's launched a line of fruit-based soft drinks. [2] It marketed its products as "Honest", referring to the fact that the products are not from concentrate with no sugar added. [3]

Charlie's listed on the NZX in 2006. [4] In 2008, Charlie's opened a new plant in Renmark, South Australia. [5]

In 2007, a Charlie's television commercial that featured children playing with fireworks was banned in New Zealand after the Television Commercials Approval Bureau received letters of complaint. The commercial showed cartoon children allowing fireworks to explode between their teeth and shooting rockets at each other. The Acting Fire Service National Commander Paul McGill said :

"It's really disappointing that an advertiser will use this occasion to produce a commercial that glorifies behaviour that was unacceptable 20 years ago and is unacceptable today."

Ron Curteis, Charlie's Marketing Manager indicated that the commercial was not intended to condone such behavior and that they had not realised this sort of behavior was still a big issue. Marc Ellis, director of Charlie's, later called for an overhaul of the advertising rules noting that the same panel who banned the commercial had initially certified that the commercial met all advertising standards. The ban eventually became part of a larger discussion about the difference between content allowed in programming versus advertisement. [6] [7]

In July 2011, Japanese beverage company Asahi acquired Charlie's. [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcopop</span> Flavored beverage with relatively low alcohol content

An alcopop is any of certain mixed alcoholic beverages with relatively low alcohol content, including:

  1. Malt beverages to which various fruit juices or other flavorings have been added
  2. Wine coolers: beverages containing wine to which ingredients such as fruit juice or other flavorings have been added
  3. Mixed drinks containing distilled alcohol and sweet liquids such as fruit juices or other flavourings
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drink</span> Liquid intended for human consumption

A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothies and soft drinks. Traditionally warm beverages include coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. Caffeinated drinks that contain the stimulant caffeine have a long history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soft drink</span> Sweetened non-alcoholic drink, often carbonated

A soft drink is any water-based flavored drink, usually but not necessarily carbonated, and typically including added sweetener. Flavors used can be natural or artificial. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a sugar substitute, or some combination of these. Soft drinks may also contain caffeine, colorings, preservatives and other ingredients. An example is bepis cola made out of fermented semen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orange juice</span> Juice made from oranges

Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As well as variations in oranges used, some varieties include differing amounts of juice vesicles, known as "pulp" in American English, and "(juicy) bits" in British English. These vesicles contain the juice of the orange and can be left in or removed during the manufacturing process. How juicy these vesicles are depend upon many factors, such as species, variety, and season. In American English, the beverage name is often abbreviated as "OJ".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ribena</span> Blackcurrant-based drink

Ribena is a brand of blackcurrant-based soft drink, and fruit drink concentrate designed to be mixed with water. It is available in bottles, cans and multi-packs. Originally of English origin, it was produced by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) until 2013, when the brand was sold to Japanese beverage conglomerate Suntory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple cider</span> Non-alcoholic apple beverage

Apple cider is the name used in the United States and Canada for an unfiltered, unsweetened, non-alcoholic beverage made from apples. Though typically referred to simply as "cider" in North America, it is not to be confused with the alcoholic beverage known as cider in other places, which is called "hard cider" in the US. Outside of the United States and Canada, it is commonly referred to as cloudy apple juice to distinguish it from clearer, filtered apple juice and hard cider.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snapple</span> Brand of tea and juice drinks

Snapple is a brand of tea and juice drinks which is owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, based in Plano, Texas, United States. The original producer of Snapple, a company that was known as Unadulterated Food Products, was founded in 1972. The brand achieved some fame due to various pop-culture references including television shows.

Odwalla Inc. is an American health food company based in Dinuba, California. Founded in Santa Cruz, California in 1980 Formerly headquartered from 1995 to 2020 in Half Moon Bay, California, the company's product lines include fruit juices, smoothies, soy milk, bottled water, organic beverages, and several types of energy bars, known as "food bars".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minute Maid</span> American beverage company

Minute Maid is a product line of beverages, usually associated with lemonade or orange juice, but which now extends to soft drinks of different kinds, including Hi-C. Minute Maid is sold under the Cappy brand in Central Europe and under the brand "Моя Семья" in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Minute Maid was the first company to market frozen orange juice concentrate, allowing it to be distributed throughout the United States and served year-round. The Minute Maid Company is owned by The Coca-Cola Company, the world's largest marketer of fruit juices and drinks. The firm opened its headquarters in Sugar Land Town Square in Sugar Land, Texas, United States, on February 16, 2009; previously it was headquartered in the 2000 St. James Place building in Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawaiian Punch</span> Fruit punch brand

Hawaiian Punch is an American brand of fruit punch currently manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally invented in 1934 by A.W. Leo, Tom Yeats, and Ralph Harrison as a topping for ice cream. It was started from an original syrup flavor called Leo's Hawaiian Punch, containing orange, pineapple, passion fruit, guava and papaya, and is currently offering 14 different flavors since 2020. The drink is currently made with 3% fruit juice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welch's</span> American company

Welch Foods Inc., commonly known as Welch's, is an American company, headquartered in Concord, Massachusetts. It has been owned by the National Grape Cooperative Association, a co-op of grape growers, since 1956. Welch's is particularly known for its grape juices, jams and jellies made from dark Concord grapes and its white Niagara grape juice. The company also manufactures and markets an array of other products, including refrigerated juices, frozen and shelf-stable concentrates, organic grape juice, fruit snacks, and dried fruit. Welch's has also licensed its name for a line of grape-flavored soft drinks since 1974. Welch's grape and strawberry soda flavors are currently licensed to Global Beverage Corporation. Other popular products that use the Welch's name are the fruit snacks made by The Promotion In Motion Companies, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solo (Australian soft drink)</span> Australian lemon-flavoured soft drink

Solo is an Australian, lemon-flavoured, carbonated soft drink currently manufactured under license by Asahi Breweries. First launched by Tarax in 1968 and fell to Cadbury after a takeover in 1974 its lemon flavour is inspired by Australian pubs' traditional and popular non alcoholic 'pub squash' beverage. The drink's recognition amongst the Australian population has been attributed to the brand's long lasting "Solo Man" marketing campaign, featuring numerous Australian actors. Solo and Asahi Holdings operates in the soft drink manufacturing industry along with various other brands such as Coca-Cola. The usual 375mL can of Solo contains 43.1 grams of sugar. There are and have been in the past, various versions of Solo available. These include Solo Zero, which uses artificial sweetener instead of sugar and there has also been a lemon and lime flavoured variant of the original recipe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asahi Breweries</span> Japanese food and beverage company

The Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. is a Japanese beverage holding company headquartered in Sumida, Tokyo.

Marc Christopher Gwynne Ellis is a New Zealand businessman, television presenter, and former rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A graduate of the University of Otago, his primary business interest was in Charlie's, a juice company. During the 1995 Rugby World Cup he scored six tries in the game against Japan, which is the record for the most tries by an individual in a Rugby World Cup match.

Ready to drink packaged beverages are those sold in a prepared form, ready for consumption. Examples include iced tea and alcopops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cider</span> Fermented alcoholic beverage from apple juice

Cider is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, as well as the largest cider-producing companies. Ciders from the South West of England are generally higher in alcoholic content. Cider is also popular in many Commonwealth countries, such as India, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. As well as the UK and its former colonies, cider is popular in Portugal, France, Friuli, and northern Spain. Germany also has its own types of cider with Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse producing a particularly tart version known as Apfelwein. In the U.S. and Canada, varieties of alcoholic cider are often called hard cider to distinguish it from non-alcoholic apple cider or "sweet cider", also made from apples. In Canada, cider cannot contain less than 2.5% or over 13% absolute alcohol by volume.

Schweppes Australia is the non-alcohol business of Asahi Breweries operating in Australia. It is now known as Asahi Lifestyle Beverage having originally arrived in the country in 1850. In 1877, the first factory was built in Sydney. After an international merger with Cadbury in 1969, forming Cadbury Schweppes, the company was eventually re-separated on 27 February 2009 and, in April 2009, Schweppes Australia was acquired by Asahi Breweries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juice</span> Naturally-occurring liquid present in fruits and vegetables

Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as clam juice. Juice is commonly consumed as a beverage or used as an ingredient or flavoring in foods or other beverages, such as smoothies. Juice emerged as a popular beverage choice after the development of pasteurization methods enabled its preservation without using fermentation. The largest fruit juice consumers are New Zealand and Colombia. Fruit juice consumption on average increases with a country's income level.

KickapooJoy Juice is a citrus-flavored soft drink brand owned by the Monarch Beverage Company. The name was introduced in Li'l Abner, a comic strip that ran from 1934 through 1977. Although Li'l Abner's Kickapoo Joy Juice was an alcoholic drink, the real world beverage is a lightly carbonated soft drink.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bireley's</span> Soft drink brand

Bireley's is a brand of non-carbonated, fruit-flavored soft drinks originally produced by the Frank W. Bireley Company, established in California in 1923 by Frank W. Bireley. The brand grew rapidly, becoming known throughout the United States, and was acquired by General Foods in 1943. It subsequently disappeared from the market in its home country, but still retains a small international presence through Asahi Soft Drinks in Japan and, until 2019, Ichitan in Thailand.

References

  1. 1 2 Spectrum Resources Ltd (5 July 2006). "Charlie's earnings squeezed". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  2. Jenny Ruth (1 January 2009). "Another first for Charlie's". Sunday Star Times. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  3. "About Us". Charlie's. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  4. David Fisher (27 February 2005). "Ellis in juice wonderland". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  5. Errol Kiong (16 April 2008). "Charlie's squeezes first juice from Australian plant". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  6. Elizabeth Binning (2 November 2007). "Charlie's withdraws 'irresponsible' fireworks ad". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  7. "Charlies soda ad ban turns into fight over double standards". The New Zealand Herald. 30 January 2008. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  8. Asahi Group to Purchase Charlie’s, P&N Water, Juice Units
  9. William Mace (4 July 2011). "Mark Ellis in line for millions from Charlie's sale". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 4 July 2011.