Moray Cup, a soft drink much loved in the northeast of Scotland, is making a comeback after a seven-year absence.
Little known outside Aberdeenshire, the fizzy juice was a popular accompaniment to fast food and was often sold in chip shops. It is described as tasting like a super-sweet fruity red cola.
So why did something that regularly outsold Coca-Cola and Irn-Bru in the northeast disappear from shelves?
The dismay in Moray began in 2012 when Macduff-based producer Sangs, which had been making soft drinks for more than a century, plunged into administration. This provoked a public outcry, and a petition to save the firm garnered 5,000 signatures. Local entrepreneur Des Cheyne even bought thousands of bottles of Moray Cup to sell in his shop in a bid to keep Sangs afloat. After a two-month period of uncertainty over its future, the business – along with 60 jobs – was saved when American company Cott Beverages stepped in to buy it.
This proved to be a temporary stay of execution for Moray Cup, however. Cotts called time on the fizzy drink in 2017, blaming the UK government’s impending sugar tax and the cost of raw materials. Cotts didn’t last much longer itself and was taken over the following year by Dutch private label soft drinks giant Refresco.
But now Moray Cup is set to make a triumphant return, with the aforementioned Des Cheyne and his wholesaler business Deveron Direct behind its comeback.
It’s fair to say that 50-year-old Cheyne has a varied portfolio of business interests. As well as Deveron Direct, he also owns a long-running nightclub in Banff, as well as a retail outlet in the same town – the wonderfully named Spotty Bag Shop. The latter is a veritable Aladdin’s cave that boasts: “If you can’t find it here, you won’t find it anywhere!” It is also the store that Cheyne packed with Moray Cup to help save Sangs in 2012.
Given its popularity, there have been a number of campaigns calling for the return of the iconic soft drink over the years. The most recent of these was an online petition started by local radio station Northsound One presenters Jeff Diack and Lauren Mitchell in February.
Not one to miss a free marketing opportunity, Cheyne called their breakfast show on Monday (5 August) to herald Moray Cup’s relaunch.
“For the past nine months, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes in partnership with Refresco, and we can now say Moray Cup is officially coming back,” he told listeners.
“It’s really exciting and will hopefully bring back memories of folk’s childhoods. The likes of chippy suppers being washed down with a lovely bottle of Moray Cup.”
If Cheyne was hoping to ride a wave of northeastern nostalgia, then he wasn’t disappointed; the news was greeted with joy on social media. A post on Deveron Direct’s Facebook page announcing the relaunch has generated more than 1,700 comments.
These include “best juice ever,” “prayers have been answered,” and “our chippy nights are saved”.
However, there were some concerns over potential reformulation, best summed up with the comment: “If it’s not the same recipe it can get in the bin.”
Moray Cup will initially return as a limited edition in a new-look bottle exclusively through Deveron Direct “by the end of August at the latest”.
