Passiona

Passiona is an Australian passionfruit-flavoured soft drink currently manufactured by Asahi Beverages (formerly Schweppes Australia) and originally Cottee's.^[1]

Passiona

Type	Soft drink
Manufacturer	Schweppes Australia
Country of origin	Australia
Introduced	1925; 100 years ago (1925)

History

Originally developed as a cordial by Lismore dairy farmer Spencer Cottee during the 1920s to avoid wasting excess passionfruit on his farm, when carbonated Passiona became a foundation product of the Cottee's range.^[2] Passiona was first manufactured in 1924, and described in writing in an address to the Mullumbimby Chamber of Commerce by Spencer Cottee 1925.^[3] In 1926, a factory was set up in Sydney, and in 1927 the drink was marketed to the public.^[4]

Newspaper reports from the 1930s mention Australians taking the drink with them overseas to Canada and Jerusalem. In 1934, Cottees Passiona Ltd reported a gross profit of £609.^{[citation needed]}

Cottee granted licences to produce the drink to a number of now defunct Australian bottlers, including Geo. Hall & Sons in South Australia and Bowral Bottlers in the NSW Southern Highlands.^[5] The trademark has also been used by Cottee's jelly crystal range.

Ingredients

The passionfruit pulp was originally supplied from not only Australian mainland growers, but later also a Norfolk Island cooperative.^[6] Cottee's then established plants in New Guinea in the highlands at Goroka and Mt. Hagen.^[7]