The Cold Drinks of the Middle East.

The first introduction to cold drinks was Bebsi Or   Pepsi Cola.  The can be about 396 ml and the cost was 1 Riyal. I am talking about the period between 70s- 90s.  The glass bottle was ½ Riyal or nusf Riyal.

The USD to Riyal was 1 to 3.75 Riyal. Later came to know it was called Petro Dollar.

Another favorite Drink was Sun Top. Then thought it was owned by Binzagr Company.  We went to visit the SunTop production company in Jeddah. The year was 1984. It is not just the juice but so much nostalgia connected with it.  We belonged to a school called Manarat Jeddah, one of the best at that time.

Suntop is owned by the CORO Company from Denmark. We never heard it in Saudi Arabia.

Suntop was developed 1970s in Denmark alter in 1978 was both launched in Denmark and Saudi Arabia. Interesting isn’t it?

The Suntop juice is a drink that is non-carbonated with Vitamin C and with no preservatives. In short a natural Orange Juice.

We used to have every other day or in lunch in school. Those were the good old days of going to school. Writing this post takes me to the 80s when my parents were still in this world.

The connection with SUNTOP is not just the pleasure of drinking orange juice but many emotions are there. Something people who grew up in the Middle East, especially in Saudi Arabia would understand.

-SAMEE

CO-RO- Founders of Suntop.

Have you wondered about who founded Suntop? Nah we were worried about drinking orange juice!

Well FYI,

The two brothers:

Flemming

Jep Peterson

Founded CO –Ro in 1942.

Suntop is available in three flavors:

Orange

Mango

Mixed Fruit.

These are fruit drink brands only people from the Middle East would feel attachment to.

The Drink itself:

The packaging had a great design.

A really attractive orange cover to match with the orange juice.

The Suntop booklet:

We used to collect stickers found with the packaging and save them in sticker books. That means one had to buy a suntop to collect the stickers. An effective marketing strategy. Back then the companies had creative marketing strategists.

Other brands of Suntop:

Sunquick

Suntop

Suncola

Sun Lolly

Sunjoy

Mash Up

SAMEE

SAMEE – we started to remember the nostalgia of the Middle East in the 70s-2000 and being a SAMEE child. I came relate to the different brands that played a part in our lives.

Suntop in Home Countries:

India

Some shopping e-commerce sites do sell it.

Buy here.  Cost 599 Indian Rupees for 6 pieces. 

Bangladesh

ACI – well well-known company in Bangladesh is partnered with CO- RO. That means you can get suntop drinks in Dhaka, Bangladesh!

Importers –You have to contact ACI Bangladesh for any imports or distributorship.

Website

Pakistan

E-commerce site

Other markets of CO- RO products:

China

Malaysia

Sril Lanka

IN United States

E-commerce

Other popular drinks in Saudi Arabia –Time:80s

Vimto

This drink a cold carbonate drink had a unique flavor. The color wand is from the United Kingdom.

The drink was made of mixed fruit. The appearance is reddish like cherry and like fruits.

 According to Wikipedia:

Vimto is a mixed drink of the following:

Grapes

 Raspberries

black currants

herbs and spices flavored

Vimto was created by John Nicholas in the 1908s and it was originally named Vim Tonic.

Buy Vimto.

Vimto is currently owned by Refreshco on behalf of Vimto Soft Drinks, a division of Nicholas plc.

Shani

A berry flavored carbonated drink owned by Pepsico. It is delicious favored that gives feeling of berry-like juice.

RAUCH Apple Juice

A good quality apple juice from Austria.    The bottles were elegantly designed and the juice tasted like apple.

Writing this post took me back to the late 70s through the 80s till the beginning of the 1990s.  We are not talking about juices but emotions and memories of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.   An era that might not come again where the neighbors lived as kin.

TANG

Tang is a juice mix powder made by a General Foods Corporation scientist. 

William A Mitchell.  Oh boy, I didn’t know all these growing up.

Read their story.

An orange drink powder that is still used in Asian Muslim households in iftar as well as the summer season. It gets emotional with Ramadan.

Follow our FB page if you worked in Saudi Arabia or the Middle East and relish those memories.

GUME- For kids who grew up in the Middle East.(70’s -90s)

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_________________

src: SAMEE

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