Bon Accord juice set to make a comeback

Its orange trucks and weekly deliveries of brightly coloured fizzy juice were part of many a Scottish childhood.

Fizzy juice brought straight to your door on a Bon Accord truck. PIC Contributed.

Now Bon Accord, a hugely popular soft drinks company in Scotland during the 70s and 80s, is making a comeback after the great, great granddaughter of its founder decided to revive the company.

At its height, the firm distributed thousands of glass bottles of juice across the country every week on its signature orange trucks.

The smiley face label was the Bon Accord signature. PIC Contributed.

Brightly coloured bottles of Tropic, Limeade, Pineapple and Red Cola would be brought straight to your door, with empty glass bottles worth 5 pence each cashed in for fresh supplies.

Karen Knowles, 31, decided to revive the company for a new generation with the new range of grown up, healthy drinks.

Cloudy lemonade, fizzy rhubarb and tonic water are more the style of beverage on offer, with natural sweeteners replacing the spoons of sugar found in the original Bon Accord wares.

The smiley face label was the Bon Accord signature. PIC Contributed.

She said: “There is a heritage to the name and the company today is a nod to the past but very much looking to the future.

“I thought the Bon Accord name still had some energy in it and I thought if something wasn’t done now, it would be one those brands that wouldn’t be revived, and I thought that would be a shame.

“Our target customers will most likely have a fondness for the brand and have fond memories of it.”

The company was originally set up in Arbroath by Ms Knowles great, great grandfather Thomas Robb. It was later expanded by her grandfather in the 1960s with depots found in Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Perth.

But with the growth of supermarkets and the switch to plastic packaging, the company eventually closed in 2,000 after it failed to modernise.

Ms Knowles, who is working on the Bon Accord relaunch with her business partner Nathan Burrough, now wants to capitalise on “healthy hedonism” and the growth in quality, soft drinks.

There has even been talk of putting a modern, eco-friendly Bon Accord delivery truck on the road.

Ms Knowles said: “Everywhere Nathan and I take the drinks, we are greeted by people with fond memories of the Bon Accord lorry delivering juice – usually to their granny’s home.”