Mazoe Orange Crush

Mazoe
Type	Juice
Manufacturer	Schweppes Zimbabwe
Distributor	Delta Corporation
Country of origin	Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Introduced	1930
Colour	Orange
Flavour	Orange
Ingredients	New Ingredients since 2018: Water, sugar, acidulant, citric acid, natural and nature identical flavourings, preservatives (potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate), colouring, non-nutritive sweeteners (acesulfamek, aspartame)
Variants	Orange Crush, Orange Light, Blackberry, Raspberry, Cream Soda and Peach
Website	www.schweppes.co.zw/orange-crush/

Mazoe Orange Crush is a popular juice drink of Zimbabwean origin which is manufactured by Schweppes Zimbabwe. The brand was founded by Arthur Sturgess in Bulawayo in 1930. Mazoe Orange Crush is a product of The Coca-Cola Company which is produced under franchise by Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited. Other variants of the include Blackberry, Raspberry, Cream Soda and Peach. The product has become popular in the region with exports going to Botswana, South Africa, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique.

Background

In 1930, Arthur Sturgess started a small beverages company called Spa Foods to produce a locally made juice drink. He used oranges grown from the Mazowe Valley to make the juice. The name Mazoe was suggested by his wife after Sturgess struggled to come up with a suitable name for his drink. ^[1]

Pictures

Line up of Mazoe Orange Crush bottles as they changed over the years, starting with the oldest on the left.

Key Events

1930: Spa Foods operating from a small soft drink factory in Bulawayo develops Mazoe Orange Crush
1998: Cadbury Schweppes Limited agrees to sell all the carbonated and crush product brands to The Coca-Cola world-wide.
2001: Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited is acquired by The Coca Cola Company as part of its global acquisition of Cadbury Schweppes International brands
2006: Schweppes Exports (Private) Limited is incorporated as part of efforts to increase exports of Mazoe brands regionally in order to generate foreign exchange to finance raw material requirements during harsh economic times.
2018: Schweppes Zimbabwe comes under fire for changing the ingredient formulation on the Mazoe syrups and Mazoe Orange Crush without informing consumers. The company issues out a press statement saying the sweeteners they were using to produce the beverages were thoroughly researched ingredients in the world where scientific evidence had confirmed their safety. They also said that the artificial sweeteners helped in reducing sugar intake for the consumers. Shortly afterwards, following backlash from consumers on social media, the company announced it would be introducing a variant of the Mazoe Orange Crush with the old ingredients.

Orange of Mazoe beverage products

Awards

National Product Quality of the Year Award for 2011. This is in recognition of its consistent and high product quality in the large *Super Brand by The Marketers Association of Zimbabwe in the Annual Superbrand Awards.