The Humble Grocery Store Origin Of Yoo-Hoo
There are a few grocery items that are synonymous with childhood and school lunches. Depending on when you grew up, your lunchbox might have had Dunkaroos, Go-GURT, or Cosmic Brownies. But when it was time to wash all of that sugary food down, nothing made our day brighter than opening our lunchbox to discover that our parents had packed a Yoo-hoo.
If you somehow made it through grade school without hearing about Yoo-hoo, all you need to know about it is that it is a chocolate beverage. Notice that it is not labeled as chocolate milk. Rather, Yoo-hoo is a peculiar non-milk drink that has been stocked in your local grocery store for a century. Its roots go all the way back to the 1920s, when a husband and wife came up with the idea in their home state of New Jersey.
Over time, Yoo-hoo became an American classic, even partnering with national sports icons for its marketing campaigns. The beverage is still being sold to this day, so if you want a trip down memory lane, all you need to do is head to the beverage aisle and be on the lookout for the shelf-stable yellow and blue-wrapped glass bottles — or simply read this article we put together.
It all started with fruit juice
The creation of Yoo-hoo can be credited to Natale Olivieri, a small business owner who sold fruit drinks along with his wife in the 1920s under the name Tru-Fruit. Like any savvy business owner, Olivieri decided to expand the line of products he was selling at the time. The idea was to sell a chocolate-flavored drink to diversify his offerings to customers. But there was one big problem: Unlike fruit juice, which could be shelf-stable for longer stretches of time, a chocolate drink would likely spoil quickly.
The solution came from the process Olivieri's wife perfected with jarring tomato juice. This involved boiling the tomatoes prior to sealing them airtight, as boiling kills any bacteria that would otherwise spoil the beverage. Olivieri applied the same technique to his new chocolate beverage, and it worked. The next step would be to bring the drink to stores to see how well it would perform with customers.
It originally launched in grocery stores in New Jersey
Natale Olivieri and his wife lived in New Jersey, and the first grocery stores to sell Yoo-hoo were local markets in the state. Olivieri came up with the name Yoo-hoo to differentiate it from the Tru-Fruit brand, as he did not think a chocolate beverage would sell well if it were associated with fruit juice. Olivieri looked to other popular sweet beverages at the time, like Moxie and Whoopee's, as inspiration before landing on Yoo-hoo.
Yoo-hoo continued to strongly represent the state of New Jersey when another Jersey-born icon, baseball superstar Yogi Berra, was featured in one of the drink's ad campaigns. The slogan "Mee-hee for Yoo-Hoo" quickly became synonymous with the chocolate beverage, and the drink rose further in popularity.
Yoo-hoo's headquarters have since moved to Tarrytown, New York, but some of the beverages are still manufactured and bottled at a plant in Carlstadt, New Jersey.
No, it's not really chocolate milk
If you've ever bought Yoo-hoo at your local grocery store, you may have noticed that it can sit on the shelf unrefrigerated. That may lead you to ask, "Is Yoo-hoo actually chocolate milk?" The quick and simple answer is no. From the very beginning, Yoo-hoo has branded itself as a "Chocolate Flavored Drink," unashamed to admit that there is not a trace of milk to be found in its signature glass bottles.
So what is Yoo-hoo made up of, exactly? Some of the main ingredients in a Yoo-hoo beverage are water, high fructose corn syrup, and cocoa. You will also find whey, a byproduct of dairy production, as well as nonfat dry milk. So, while it is neither a completely dairy-free beverage nor just chocolate mixed with water, it isn't made of the same building blocks as your standard glass of chocolate milk. This is part of the reason why Natale Olivieri was able to successfully launch Yoo-hoo as a shelf-stable chocolate beverage in the first place.
It's not exactly healthy for you
When you were a kid, you may have had Yoo-hoo stashed in your lunchbox as a regular part of your week. It definitely would have been an easy solution to give kids a chocolate beverage that they enjoyed without worrying about spoilage, in case your lunchbox did not make it into a refrigerator while you were at school. But it makes you stop and think about what else is in Yoo-hoo that makes it so shelf stable — and if those ingredients are what you want to consume on a regular basis.
Frankly, Yoo-hoo is not going to rank high when it comes to healthy beverage options. A quick glance at its Nutrition Facts label will show that a bottle of Yoo-hoo has 220 calories, 330 milligrams of sodium, and a staggering 51 grams of carbohydrates (47 grams of those are sugars, 36 grams of which are added sugars). These stats, combined with its list of ingredients, led to a lawsuit in 2010 for false advertising, after Yoo-hoo was allegedly advertised as being "good for you." With that said, those who drink Yoo-hoo would probably be the first to admit that they are in it for the flavor, and not any nutritional benefits.
The New York Yankees endorsed it as The Drink of Champions
Yoo-hoo had rather humble beginnings, initially launching in local grocery markets around New Jersey. But word about it spread, and soon, the demand for Yoo-hoo grew so much that it needed to expand its operations. Two decades after its debut, the chocolate beverage was already being manufactured in a larger facility in South Carolina.
As Yoo-hoo continued to rise in popularity, its makers searched for ways to reach a wider audience outside of its home state. And what better way to represent the tri-state area than to partner with the New York Yankees?
In the '50s, ads featuring several of the team's players promoted Yoo-hoo as "The Drink of Champions" — an apt description, given the Yankees' string of World Series wins that same decade. The campaign continued into the '60s, making it one of the most successful marketing efforts in the product's history.
The brand changed owners quite a few times
Like many grocery products, especially those that have been around for 100 years, Yoo-hoo has changed owners numerous times.
Following its wildly successful ad campaign with the New York Yankees, Yoo-hoo was acquired by B.B.C. Industries. The product changed hands several more times from 1976 to the early 2000s: it was acquired by Iroquois Brands, purchased by private investors, bought by Pernod Ricard, and subsequently sold to Cadbury-Schweppes. In 2008, following the Cadbury-Schweppes split, Yoo-hoo ended up under the umbrella of the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group.
About 10 years later, the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group was acquired by Keurig Green Mountain as part of a move by the private holding firm JAB Holding Co. This led to the creation of Yoo-hoo's current parent company, Keurig Dr. Pepper. This also put Yoo-hoo in the same family as other popular beverage brands, including Canada Dry, Sunkist, and Hawaiian Punch.
The many flavors of Yoo-hoo
From the very beginning, Yoo-hoo made it loud and clear that it's a chocolate drink, not chocolate milk. However, that hasn't stopped its makers from coming up with different flavors that offer new twists on the popular shelf-stable beverage — and interestingly enough, many of them are flavors that could definitely work for chocolate milk, too.
One of the more well-received Yoo-Hoo variants to hit the market is vanilla. Consumers have described it on social media as "an open door for all things yum about a vanilla milk shake" and something that "tasted like a melted Vanilla Milkshake or like the ice cream melted at the bottom of a cup/dish" (via TotallyTheBomb.com).
The brand has also introduced other flavors that were successful enough to stay on store shelves, like Strawberry. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for other not-so-successful flavors, like Chocolate Banana and Island Coconut.
The Yoo-hoo beverage inspired a few snack items
Yoo-hoo has a distinct chocolate flavor, and once you've tried it, you will not have a hard time distinguishing it from other chocolate beverages. Eventually, manufacturers figured out ways to capture the flavor in ways other than its traditional drink form. In the early 2000s, the brand tried its hand at offering actual Yoo-hoo-flavored food items, such as Candy Bars, Candy Mini Bars, and Ice Pops.
Shoppers can still buy Yoo-hoo Candy Bars to this day, though it seems that they're not that easy to come by. One reviewer on Amazon noted that the Candy Mini Bar didn't exactly taste like the beverage, but mentioned that they enjoyed it regardless: "I like the taste and drink Yoo-hoo all the time, so it must have some of the flavor of the drink in it." And of course, it should come as no surprise that the chocolate beverage is still Yoo-hoo's signature product.
It went through a rebrand in the 1990s
A product that stands the test of time and lasts for a century is bound to experience one or two rebranding experiments and new marketing campaigns to breathe new life into it. That is precisely what happened with Yoo-hoo.
After its successful ad campaign featuring the New York Yankees in the '50s and '60s, the chocolate beverage became a much bigger hit with customers. But the company also understood the need to remain relevant, especially with younger consumers who were perhaps more likely to buy the product.
In an attempt to reach out to a younger demographic, Yoo-hoo seized the opportunity to rebrand itself in the 1990s. In 1998, new Yoo-hoo commercials targeting teenagers and young adults hit the airwaves. Yoo-hoo's ads also appeared in publications such as Spin Magazine, with readers encouraged to order Yoo-hoo-themed t-shirts, bandanas, and even Swatch Watches.
Yoo-hoo is still going strong today
If you head into your local grocery store today, you are bound to find Yoo-hoo products on its shelves. Individual bottles may be found in the refrigerated sections, and beverage aisles will likely have Yoo-hoo sold in cartons, cans, or its signature glass bottles. You may also find some novelty flavors like Vanilla, Strawberry, or Cookies & Cream. If you are looking to fill your pantry to the brim with Yoo-hoo, you can even find the beverage sold in bulk at warehouse chains like Sam's Club.
Similar products have reached the market over the years, like the lactose-free chocolate beverages made by Slate, a company that appeared on Shark Tank. It just goes to show that there is always a market for chocolate beverages that are not necessarily chocolate milk. With that said, there aren't any signs that Yoo-hoo will be slowing down anytime soon.
Recreating Yoo-hoo at home goes viral on TikTok
Once you realize Yoo-hoo is basically water and chocolate (plus a couple of other ingredients), you might think about how simple it is to recreate the drink at home, or at least get close to recreating it. After all, since Yoo-hoo has such a distinct flavor, there must be some secret ingredient that you won't be able to find in your kitchen, right? That's exactly what users on TikTok put to the test. With just a glass of water and a decent amount of chocolate syrup, Tiktok user @timthetankofficial tried to create his own Yoo-hoo drink at home. According to him, the result was quite close, in terms of flavor.
@timthetankofficial Is Yohoo just chocolate water?! #fypシ #tipsandtricks #lifehack #chocolate #water #amazed #discovery
While he claimed that his creation was a near-perfect match, others were a bit more skeptical. @partyshirt tried their own hand at mixing water and chocolate syrup together, but did not seem to achieve the same results. To them, there's something about Yoo-hoo's unique flavor that made their watery chocolate drink close, but not quite a precise match.