‘The original Vincy ting’ makes effervescent comeback

It has been a ‘Vincy ting’ since 1952, so Vincentians were naturally disappointed when the popular local drink, Ju-C, fizzled out in 2010 with the closure of Bottlers St Vincent Ltd. However, the spirits of Ju-C fans are bubbly again, as the sparkling beverage has made an effervescent comeback.

In March 2014, the East Caribbean Group of Companies (ECGC) acquired the assets of the former manufacturer and launched East Caribbean Beverages Inc (ECBI). Ju-C re-entered the market on October 23, 2014, and Vincentians discovered with delight that, apart from the packaging, nothing had changed. It is, therefore, no surprise that a mere three years later, fans have put their stamp of approval on Ju-C by selecting it as Best Local Beverage in the 2017 Best of SVG awards.

Senior plant supervisor at ECBI Deljuan Ellis regards the achievement as validation of ECGC’s dedication to quality, as emphasized in the company’s motto ‘Excellence Through Teamwork’. “I feel proud, because of the energy that the staff puts in and the commitment in terms of producing a quality product. At least we could see our hard work is paying off. ECGC always prides itself on quality… Quality flour, quality rice, and then to have now a quality beverage, speaks a lot. We set ourselves high standards, so we just have to maintain it,” Ellis emphasized.

The carbonated beverage is packaged in 350ml and 600 ml plastic bottles and is available in a variety of flavours, including red, orange, banana, pineapple, apple, sweet ginger, cream soda, cola and the newly introduced lemon ale. Four of the flavours, sweet ginger, red, orange and cola also come in a 1.75 litre size. Traditionally, red has been the most popular flavour, but it is now getting some competition. “I think the nostalgia with people using red to drink with the milk, that’s a popular thing, but I must say the trend now is that the sweet ginger is actually surpassing the red,” Ellis said.

Ju-C is distributed to retail outlets across St Vincent and the Grenadines and exported to Antigua and Barbuda, the United States and Canada. ECBI manufactures its own bottles, using pre-forms imported from Puerto Rico. Blow mould operator Alfred Grant describes the facility as one of the most sophisticated in the OECS. Apart from the transition from breakable to plastic bottles, the company now also has the Ju-c logo on the bottle caps, and English/French bilingual labels for the exports to Canada.

In addition to the award-winning Ju-C, ECBI also manufactures and distributes Ju-C Water and the energy drink Village Ram, which is also very popular. The company has recently started importing and distributing Fan and Fontana juices to diversify its inventory. Customers can purchase Ju-C, Ju-C Water and Village Ram from a wide range of wholesale and retail outlets across St Vincent and the Grenadines. They may also place telephone orders at ECBI, which the company will deliver along its distribution routes, or they could collect their orders at ECBI’s headquarters at the Campden Park Industrial Estate. Drinks are also available on consignment. ECBI may be contacted at telephone number 457-7050.