50/50 (soft drink)

50/50 (also known as Canfield's 50/50 and Graf's 50/50) was a grapefruit- and lime-flavored soft drink produced in the United States.[1][2] 50/50 was primarily sold in the Midwest, including southern Wisconsin and the Chicagoland area.[3] It was one of the Canfield company's more popular soft drink flavors.[4]

In the 1870s, John Graf of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, brewed a number of soft drinks, including Grandpa Graf's root beer and 50/50. Soft drinks became the Graf family business. In 1968, his descendant Lawrie O. Graf sold the business to P & V Atlas, who sold it to Canada Dry, who sold it to the A.J. Canfield Company of Chicago, Illinois.[2] The A.J. Canfield company produced and distributed the drink for nearly three decades. In 1995, Select Beverages, a drink company based in Darien, Illinois, acquired A.J. Canfield, taking over the production of 50/50.[5] Select Beverages was itself acquired by Cadbury Schweppes and The Carlyle Group in 1998.[6] In 2008, Cadbury Schweppes split into Cadbury and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, the latter of which continued to produce 50/50.[7][8] Dr Pepper Snapple Group was itself acquired by Keurig Green Mountain in 2018, becoming Keurig Dr Pepper.[9]

50/50 became increasingly difficult to find in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. By early 2024, consumers could no longer find 50/50 on grocery store shelves, leading fans of the drink to believe that it had been quietly discontinued. 50/50 is no longer included on the list of brands owned by Keurig Dr Pepper as of May 2024.[1]

External links

• Podcast episode about 50/50