2 People Know the Dr Pepper Formula and Other Fun Facts

Did you know that only two people in the entire world know the secret formula for Dr. Pepper?  

I recently got the chance to chat with some of the folks at the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and learned some fun facts about our favorite drinks and the company that makes them.

•     There have been almost 250 different Snapple flavors created
•     Dr. Pepper Snapple has an entire sensory panel of professional tasters help determine the final drink flavors.
•     There were initially 40 variants of Dr. Pepper that had to be narrowed down to the final best formula.
•     They are the leader in flavored beverages
•     Dr. Pepper Snapple sells more than 50 brands of carbonated soft drinks, teas, juices, mixers and other premium beverages
•     Out of their 14 biggest brands, 13 are #1 or #2 in their respective category
•     Dr. Pepper Snapple makes 6 of top 10 non-cola soft drinks brands
•     They have 19,000 employees with operations in North America and the Caribbean

I never considered how many different aspects there were to beverage creation. When I choose our beverages at the store or at a restaurant, it’s pretty much based on taste, calories and price.

But as it turns out, there are so many different considerations for the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group when it comes to beverage creation, testing and production. They have teams of scientists, engineers and specialists who spend countless hours of research and development on each of their beverages. In addition to taste and value, they consider responsible and environmentally-friendly manufacturing, convenient packaging and health benefits.

In addition, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group is committed to encouraging a balanced and healthy life. They believe in balancing the calories consumed with the calories burned through physical activity.

In an effort to support those “Calories Out”, they take pride in supporting local and national programs that encourage active lifestyles. And as part of their “Calories In” initiative, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group is devoting half of all innovation projects to the focus of reduced calories, smaller portions and improved nutrition.

Here are some of the ways Dr. Pepper Snapple Group is making this happen:

•     As an industry, they took full-calorie beverages out of schools voluntarily through the School Beverage Guidelines, reducing the calories in beverage shipments to schools by more than 90%.
•     They joined in the launch of the Clear on Calories Initiative to put calorie counts on the fronts of all beverage containers.
•     They committed to the goal of reducing the calories consumed in beverages by 20% over the next 10 years by focusing on smaller package sizes, innovation, marketing and distribution of low-and no-calorie beverages

Recognizing that there is a physical activity deficit in today’s youth, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group encourages active play with their program “Let’s Play”.

Consider these facts. Only 20% of children live near a park and two-thirds of kids get less than an hour of play a day. Kids 8-18 spend an average of 7.5 hours per day on media devices. The result of all of this, along with poor eating and drinking habits, is that obesity rates have tripled.

Let’s Play: A Meaningful Part of the Solution

To help increase active play in communities across the U.S., Dr Pepper Snapple Group launched Let’s Play to provide the tools, spaces and inspiration to make play a priority. They have:

•     built or improved 2,000 playgrounds

•     provided 5 million children with the opportunity to play

•     donated more than 18,000 volunteer hours and more than 2,300 employee hours

•     partnered with KaBOOM!, donating over $25 million to help promote active play

•     committed $1 million to Good Sports, helping provide athletic equipment to disadvantaged kids

•     helped older children who lack the opportunity to participate in organized sports due to cost

I was impressed with all that I learned about Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and look forward to seeing more from them in the future.

Want to know more? Check them out online:

Dr. Pepper Snapple Group on Facebook  

Dr. Pepper Snapple Group on Twitter

Tell me! What’s your favorite beverage from Dr. Pepper Snapple Group?