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Grape Drink
"Just because Sunny D has vitamins doesn’t mean they get to be so high and mighty. This kind of “Swift Boat” mudslinging does nothing to raise the level of fruity beverage discourse in America. "
By Nico Savidge
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When it comes to thirst-quenching drinks for kids and teens, there are so many options. Do you stock the fridge with cola, tea or orange juice? How about trusty old standby “Tang”? It is “A Kick in the Glass,” after all. In an effort to make his own informed choice, Youth Radio’s Nico Savidge takes a closer look at one of the most famous – yet perhaps most misunderstood – fruity beverages on the supermarket shelf.
Grape Drink. For some, those two simple words conjure up idealistic pictures of childhood birthday parties, picnics and family get-togethers. But for others, including myself, they raise more questions than answers. In fact, I’d never even heard of Grape Drink until I saw a stand-up special by comedian Dave Chappelle in 2004.
[EXCERPT FROM DAVE CHAPPELLE STAND-UP ROUTINE]
But just how accurate is Chappelle’s characterization about what’s really inside this mysterious drink?
ROB LAGERLOFF (On Tape)
He’s just left out the grape flavoring.
NICO
That’s Rob Lagerloff, a quality assurance manager at Prairie Farms Dairy. Based in Carlinville, Illinois, Prairie Farms has made fruit beverages for more than twenty-five years. Lagerloff gave me the inside scoop on how their classic grape concoction is made.
ROB LAGERLOFF (On Tape)
We blend in a big tank…water, high fructose corn syrup and then a grape drink base that has all the natural and artificial flavors and the colorance to make it a nice grape color for the bottle.
NICO
But a closer examination of the label reveals more than just high fructose corn syrup and grape color. Citric acid, modified corn starch, cellulose gum, and other preservatives fuse in thirst-quenching harmony with sugar, water, and purple, creating a symphony of grape flavor and consumer convenience.
ROB LAGERLOFF (On Tape)
The artificial flavor gives it a little bit more shelf life, stability…it maintains the good grape profile of the grape drink. The gums help to give it just a little bit of mouth feel so it’s not just real watery drink. And we do add a little bit of sodium benzoate to make sure that some stores that don’t refrigerate drinks…it’ll be nice and safe for the consumer.
NICO
Good taste? Check. Convenience? Check. A shelf life longer than PVC plastic? Check. But vitamins and minerals? Not so much. We tried to find out what Grape Drink’s nutritional value really is.
ROB LAGERLOFF (On Tape)
Very limited. It’s meant for mostly a smooth, refreshing beverage to not deliver a high nutrient content. That also keeps the economics down to the point where it can be sold for a dollar twenty-nine for a gallon.
NICO
So who needs vitamins and minerals when the price and taste are so right? Youth Radio’s Brandon McFarland recently discovered grape drink in a convenience store, and says he was surprised by its frugal appeal
BRANDON MCFARLAND (On Tape)
I looked at it said Grape Drink, and then right under the big letters of Grape Drink it said "Contains zero percent juice." And I said, "That's my drink right there, that's it." Bought it, and surprisingly it cost like two dollars! Two dollars for a gallon of grape drink…can you believe that? What a bargain, right?
NICO
A bargain indeed. Still, there are always unscrupulous competitors out there willing to put a good drink down just to increase their own market share. The makers of Sunny Delight, for example, ran a series of smear campaigns in which they referred to Grape Drink simply as “purple stuff.”
[EXCERPT FROM SUNNY DELIGHT AD]
That’s a low blow. Just because Sunny D has vitamins doesn’t mean they get to be so high and mighty. This kind of “Swift Boat” mudslinging does nothing to raise the level of fruity beverage discourse in America. Plus, the ads were inaccurate when you consider that Sunny D is itself just sugar, water and orange.
But in order to be the best thirst-quenching kids’ beverage with absolutely no redeeming nutritional value, it all comes down to taste.
BRANDON MCFARLAND (On Tape)
Oh man, it's like all that sugar hits every part of your mouth…like a kick in the mouth, for real. I prefer my grape drink on ice. I swirl it around just to get it dissolved a little bit because it's like mad concentrated.
NICO
However Youth Radio’s Anyi Howell reports that, while the taste may be delicious, that good feeling ends when the drink hits the stomach.
ANYI HOWELL (On Tape)
It kind of goes down kind of harsh, a little rough. I mean in the mouth and neck it tastes delicious, but when it actually gets to the processing areas, you know the acids kind of bump up against each other, you know. All the body chemicals and then the drink chemicals kind of…it’s like funk in the valley. A tribal conflict.
NICO
Despite the potential gastric consequences, Lagerloff maintains Prairie Farms grape drink is the Cristal of what he calls “belly washes” – the industry term for inexpensive blends with less than five percent fruit juice.
ROB LAGERLOFF (On Tape)
We think it’s the best in the nation, we really do. In fact every year we agonize over the formulation because there’s a lot of fruit drink suppliers that would like our business.
NICO
Yes, despite being as nutritious as a Twinkie, times are good for grape drink. And it’s good to know the attack ads by some of its competitors – I’m looking at you, Sunny D – aren’t diminishing its popularity among young people either. So this reporter can rest assured that every time I enjoy a nice, cool, refreshing glass of “the purple stuff,” I'm taking a thirst-quenching sip of the best, a dollar twenty-nine-a-gallon beverage money can buy.
For Youth Radio, I’m Nico Savidge.
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