Is Schweppes a Pepsi Product?

I was wondering whether Schweppes is a Pepsi product so, I did some research, and here’s what I found.

Whether you’re interested in when Coca-Cola (Soft drinks makers) bought the rights to Schweppes, if there is any ginger in Schweppes ginger ale, whether Schweppes ginger ale contains high fructose corn syrup, or if Schweppes ginger ale is good.

Here’s everything you need to know about Schweppes and who has the rights to this drinks maker(Coca-Cola).

When did Coca-cola buy Schweppes?

Schweppes was formerly called Cadbury Schweppes, until 2008 when it split into two separate companies or beverage producers – one for the confectionary and one for sodas – as shown in an announcement made on the Cadbury Investors website.

This page has since been removed due to a website upgrade, but the page is still available through the Wayback Machine on Archive.org.

The soda company owned by Cadbury was sold to the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group which has since changed ownership and is now Keurig Dr. Pepper.

The 3 biggest soda producers in the USA are Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr. Pepper, in that order.

Here’s a table that shows the percentage of the soda market which each company has served over the years:

Data provided by Statista.com.

The data above shows that Coca-Cola makes nearly double the sales of both PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr. Pepper in the soft drink business.

Why it makes sense for Schweppes to have distributors

What’s interesting is that both Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. and PepsiCo have a license to bottle and sell Schweppes.

The Coca-Cola Coke and Pepsi official websites list Schweppes or Cadbury Schweppes PLC as one of their brands, as seen here and here.

Bottling plants and beverage units are scattered throughout most countries. 

Cities and towns will increase in population and decrease in population, and new housing developments spring up and begin to attract more and more developments and people.

However, a city can be far away from where the bottling plant of Coca-Cola is, and therefore the cost to transport sodas from a far away bottling plant can be expensive or time-consuming.

And in some instances, it’s beneficial to a company like Schweppes to have other soda companies like Coca-Cola Company make their soda and take a percentage of the profits.

Rather than building a whole new bottling plant and distribution center, or selling the trademark to their recipe.

Is ginger ale a Pepsi product?

The fact that Schweppes only lists natural flavors and doesn’t contain any artificial flavors means that it’s likely that it does contain ginger or ginger extract. Schweppes Canada Dry ginger ale is the country’s best-selling ginger ale brand.

Nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon are known substitutes for ginger in baking, and other recipes. They also have Diet Raspberry Ginger Ale and Diet Ginger Lime.

But, on the surface, it seems like it would be quite difficult to get the distinctive ginger flavor, without using some form of real ginger.

And would lead one to ask ‘why would they go to all that trouble?’.

Therefore, it could be possible for Schweppes to create the ginger flavor found in their ginger ale using a combination of other spices.

However, I don’t think it’s very likely.

And at the moment, it remains a secret.

The Schweppes zero sugar ginger ale made in the USA is called ‘diet ginger ale’ and is sweetened with aspartame.

And the sugar-free version made in Canada is called ‘zero sugar ginger ale’ and is sweetened with aspartame that contains phenylalanine.

In the UK Schweppes made by Coca Cola is branded as Schweppes Canada Dry ginger ale, and is sweetened with sugar, Acesulfame K and Sucralose, as shown here.

Below is a table that shows which Schweppes ginger ales are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup and which aren’t:

As you can see each country has a slightly different formula, and if your country isn’t listed above you can do a search for ‘Schweppes your country’, and see if they sell Schweppes ginger ale and if they provide an ingredients list.

It can be possible that the Schweppes ginger ale in your country is imported.

Sometimes, they don’t list the ingredients on their website, for example, Schweppes ginger ale bottled by Schweppes in the UK doesn’t list the ingredients on their website.

And the Canada Dry brand of ginger ale is also rated quite highly.

Here’s a table that shows how people ranked it compared to other sodas and compared to other ginger ales:

*rated Canada Dry ginger ale, not the Schweppes branded ginger ale

Most of these brands have many different flavors.

And Pepsi also makes a range of other beverages such as:

• Coffees and teas
• Craft beverages
• Energy drinks
• Frozen beverages
• Juices & shakes
• Lemonades
• Bottled Waters

Below is a summary of the key points I covered in this article:

The trademark for Schweppes is not owned by Pepsi and Coca-Cola Enterprises, however, they are a licensed partner and bottle and distribute it in the beverage business.

The Schweppes trademark is owned by Keurig Dr. Pepper which took ownership in 2008.

Prior to that, it was owned by Cadbury – the well-known confectionery brand, which made both beverages and confectionery.

But, prior to Keurig Dr. Pepper acquiring it, they split into two companies, a beverage company, and a confectionery company.

Schweppes does not say whether their Schweppes ginger ale contains ginger, but Canada Dry ginger ale – made by Schweppes does contain ginger extract.

Schweppes ginger ale and Schweppes Canada Dry ginger ale are both ranked quite highly in taste tests.