Beep juice aka Beep Drink

Ebay

2010-05-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

There are some Beep For Breakfast juice glasses for sale on Ebay.

HELP SAVE BEEP!

2010-03-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

You shouldn't have to chase after the last of your favorite fruit drink.

Contact Farmers Dairy:
http://farmersdairy.ca

Sweet Memories of Famers Beep

2010-03-22T21:49:00.002-07:00

Thanks to Matt for the link. :)

Sweet Memories of Famers Beep

2010-03-22T21:49:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Matt for the link. :)

Beep Memories

2010-03-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

Beep memories in response to Chronicle Herald story:

Wayne from NS wrote:

Life is indeed a strange thing. As we journey on through, one by one we must say good bye to the things that have meant so much in our past. Our Grandparents, the cat "that thought it was people", the dogs we loved, Mom's home made strawberry jam, and finally dear old Mom herself. And now it's Beep to which we say good bye. Images come flooding back. Images of lunchtime drawing to a close at NSIT, a small carton of BEEP which had been purchased from the in-school CNIB canteen sits in front of almost every student in the cafeteria, each one having been fully opened, all garbage stuffed within, then folded back into itself in a tight, neat little package of refuse. Gone are those days. Is life better? Different yes, but better? I'm not so sure.

JMW59 wrote:

I had a flashback reading this article of being in grade school getting a small container of Beep and two oatmeal cookies for morning break. Great memories are created by the most simple of things sometimes.

busy wrote:

Beep conjurs up memories of a simpler time, when society didn't worry too much about weight issues, we had dessert every night at supper - and there was little childhood obesity. Kids played outside...I remember Beep, always a fixture on my grandmothers table at breakfast. She also had *gasp* homemade white rolls, yes, I said it "white" rolls - with homemade strawberry jam and usually porridge...with brown sugar and real cream, yeah, real cream, straight from a "real cow"....oh the memories, we would gobble up our rolls with jam and Beep and off we would go to play, with little or no adult supervision...only to come in at lunchtime for more delights from her kitchen...oh the cookies she could bake...and we were skinny, so skinny, skinned knees and nutmeg brown from the summer sun (we hadn't heard of skin cancer yet), heck it was the 70's...my mother didn't remind me to wear a sunhat - my hair was bleached blonde in the sun, sometimes my scalp got a little sunburnt...so Beep, yes, Beep fills me with memories...my kids drink real orange juice and eat whole wheat bread...I'm getting some Beep today.

JMW59 wrote:

What wonderful memories, things really were so much simpler back then. None of the worries that kids have to bear today. I remember my only dilemma was trying to decide who I was going to play with and would we ride bikes or play hopscotch the next day after school. The wonderful smells that I would arrive home from school to in the fall when my mother had spent the day making pickles and relishes. Every room in the house decorated at Christmas time, all done lovingly by my mother. I'm so glad I grew up in the era I did, I only have wonderful memories.

Cowtowner wrote:

Say it isn't so! Wow, what a flood of memories that unleashed for me... I think it used to cost me 5 cents or maybe a dime back in elementary school at Ford Sackville School in Bedford. Sunny spring days on the playground, swigging back Beep and then of course folding over the top and closing it up tight to smash it under your heel to see who could make the loudest pop. I probably haven't had a drink of it in almost 40 years, but it's hard to forget the taste of that super-sweet beverage from my youth. As someone else has already mentioned, a simpler time to be sure.... Long live Beep!

End of the road for BEEP

2010-03-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

Article about the demise of BEEP in the Chronicle Herald.

End of the road for Beep drink -- By BILL POWER
BRACE YOURSELVES, Beep lovers. This is not good news.

To the disappointment of sugar-charged fruit-drink lovers everywhere, the people at Farmers Co-Operative Dairy Ltd. in Bedford confirmed Friday they are indeed proceeding with plans to discontinue Beep fruit drink.

"It is sort of a sad day. Lots of people are nostalgic about the drink. Lots of us here at Farmers are very sad to see it go," Derek Estabrook, vice-president of marketing and business development, said in an interview.
» CLICK ON the comments link to tell us your Beep story or to share any Beep recipes
» Beep fans Facebook group
» Beep lover's blog
» Tell Farmer's how much you love(d) Beep
» 1964 Life magazine ad for Beep (via beepjuice.blogspot.com)

The co-operative announced the demise of Beep with a modest statement on its website Tuesday, and within hours bloggers from coast-to-coast were waxing nostalgic about the loss.

"It is a product lots of people like to talk about, but sales have declined to a trickle of what they were in the ’60s, when Beep was a staple of many children’s lunch boxes from one end of the province to the other," said Estabrook.

An advisory on the co-operative’s website notes Beep will start disappearing from store shelves over the next few weeks.

"So if Beep has a special place in your heart, pick up a carton soon," it states.

Farmers did not want to release sales figures, except to say in recent years they have not been good.

"We would not discontinue the brand if it was selling," said Estabrook.

As far as can be determined, Nova Scotia is the last jurisdiction in North America where Beep was available in recent years.

Estabrook said most consumer inquiries about the Beep discontinuation have come from outside the province, where it is no longer available.

Beep fruit drink was sold under licence in previous decades by dairies just about everywhere. It was introduced in Nova Scotia by Farmers in 1961, but sales have been in steady decline for at least 20 years.

"These days, consumers can get fresh juice from Florida for a few bucks for a couple of litres. In the past 15 years, the market has gone through a total transformation," said Estabrook.

Although the co-operative is dropping Beep, sales in other categories are strong.

Estabrook said the decision to discontinue Beep was linked to a major overhaul of the co-operative’s packaging operations.

"We are installing new carton fillers in our packaging line that will increase efficiency and capacity for the long term," he said.

Beep sales were not significant enough to warrant including the product in the packaging overhaul.

Beep comes in colourful one-litre and single-serving containers.

A combination of reconstituted fruit juices comprises 25 per cent of the product.

Here is the ingredients list: water, sugar, concentrated orange juice, concentrated apple juice, apricot puree, citric acid, prune syrup, orange pulp, modified corn starch, canola oil, flavour, sodium citrate, colour, sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid.

Halifax nutritionist Irene Healy-Vihant muttered an audible sigh of relief when informed Beep was to be discontinued.

"Bye-bye Beep. Glad to see you go. That’s what I have to say," she said.

Healy-Vihant suggested one reason the co-operative is discontinuing the brand is school boards across the province have instituted healthy eating programs and banned the drink.

Bridgewater blogger Matt Dagley and a friend recently added some Beep video to his Deathboxproductions.com website, and must now make a new post lamenting the demise of the fruit drink.

"This is terrible. I love Beep. When people visit from other parts of Canada we always get some Beep because nobody outside of Nova Scotia seems to sell it," said Dagley.

BEEP stuff...

2010-03-05T09:10:00.000-08:00

Does anyone out there have any vintage beep packaging, adverts, promotional items? Please e-mail me if you do.

Matt & Christy go to Sobeys in search of BEEP.

2010-03-05T09:01:00.000-08:00

Video via Deathbox Productions.

Beep on facebook

2010-03-05T08:39:00.001-08:00

I found a great BEEP facebook page today (I want that sign sooooo much! Anyone have a larger version of the photo?) and they had some interesting information listed:

I know when you look at the main picture that the Beep carton may not look like the one you may be used to. I remember a milk carton style container with a little chick hatching out of an egg and a large 25% real juice symbol on the box. (It's been a long time). As time goes by, I will find more information, and hopefully collect as much history as humanly possible. From what I can tell , Beep was created either by the "Co-op Dairy" company in Saskatchewan, or "Lucerine Foods", to be sold only at fine Canadian Safeway stores. It also may have been invented by a company called "Farmers Dairy" which dates back 85 years. It opened it's doors in 1920 in the Provence of Nova Scotia. They are all still producing high quality products...but, WHERE'S THE BEEP?!!!

While scanning the almighty web for details on the subject, it was mentioned Beep was discontinued in 2003 from lack of sales. (HOW COULD WE LET THIS HAPPEN??!) The glue holding the carton together was also being weakened due to the awesome acidic power of Beep and the product would leak. (Not good). However others still say that you can get it in Provinces on the East coast. What makes them so special??

Ingredients: Water, sugar, concentrated orange juice, concentrated apple juice, apricot puree, citric acid, prune syrup, orange pulp, modified corn starch, canola oil, flavour, sodium citrate, colour, sodium benzoate, ascorbic acid.

The end of an era!

2010-03-04T11:03:00.000-08:00

Got a letter today from Lisa.

Good afternoon!
I was heartbroken to find out that two days ago, Farmer's Dairy in Nova Scotia have decided to discontinue making Beep. My sis lives in BC, and I've been known to bring frozen beep and Brother's Pepperoni out west when we visit, (once, an entire suitcase) to share with friends who are former residents of Halifax that now live in the suburbs around Vancouver.

When I head home tonite, I'll be going to grocery stores to snag some before it disappears. It's a sad, sad day.
-Lisa

Statemment from Farmers Dairy:

After more than 50 years, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue Beep juice. While Beep was once a staple in fridges and lunchboxes across Nova Scotia, sales have been declining for the past several years. Beep will start disappearing from store shelves over the next few weeks, so if Beep has a special place in your heart, pick up a carton soon.

You can send your condolences and/or complaints to Farmers Dairy HERE.

Funny Story

2010-02-28T09:35:00.000-08:00

Got a funny story today from Jim:

Hi Sarah,
My older brother told me a hilarious story about Beep.

When he was a kid, like every other kid, at some point asked Dad what beer tastes like. Our Dad took a "Beep For Breakfast" cup and a crayon, drew a leg on the "P" to make it an "R" so it said "Beer For Breakfast", then put his first taste in there.

He told me this story while we were at a baseball game and I almost choked on my hotdogs from laughing. I couldn't stop for 20 minutes!
JIM

Beep For Breakfast Ruler...

2009-12-06T23:32:00.001-08:00

...up for auction on E-bay. Check it out HERE!

Beep Story

2009-10-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hey Sarah,
Great work on the Beep blog! I just wanted to share my Beep memories with you.

We got it at Safeway in the 80s (in Alberta) and it was the sort of drink that was for birthday parties and stuff - more of a "special occasion" drink than an everyday one for sure (owing to its lack of actual juice, I guess)! It came in 2L cartons and had its name in that typical Safeway block lettering, and had illustrations of fruit on the front. It looked nothing like the pictures I've seen online, with the little bird. I know you could get it as recently as about 2000 because I have a (too embarrassing to share) photo of myself and a group of friends lovingly holding a carton of Beep :)

Anyway, I could also swear that at Halloween, they sold it as Witch's Brew. We used to get the little single-serve cartons in our trick or treat bags, but I think you could also get it in the 2L containers.

My husband is a few years older than me and grew up in Manitoba. He remembers the carton with the bird on it. So I'm thoroughly confused - the Beep that I grew up with was a Safeway-branded product, but it sounds like Farmer's in Nova Scotia is another company that makes it. Sounds like there may be different Beeps all over the country :)

I'm going home to Alberta for Thanksgiving and will see if I can spot and photograph my beloved Alberta Beep.

Thanks for the awesome blog and keep up the great work!

Emma
www.winnipegomyheart.com

1964 Life Magazine advert

2009-10-03T10:39:00.000-07:00

Beep Caps

2009-05-29T21:51:00.001-07:00

Some Beep Drink caps up for sale on e-bay. Snooze ya lose!

1963 advert

2009-03-28T16:28:00.000-07:00

Found this great ad from the 1963 Inwood Herald newspaper ...

Winnipeg treasure

2009-03-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

Got an e-mail from my friend Tracy today:

"I just got back from a visit to my girlfriend Janice's in Winnipeg. Look at the FABULOUS treasure I found under her cabin porch!"

Thank you Dan!

2009-03-14T11:59:00.000-07:00

I received a great letter (and photo) from Dan about BEEP.

Although your blog does mention it… I’ll confirm it: Farmer’s Dairy in Nova Scotia sells and distributes Beep in Nova Scotia… and has for at least the past 30 years.

How do I know?

When I was a youngin’ (a bit more than say 30+ years ago) and my family would take me from New Brunswick to visit my grandmother in Halifax, Beep was my drink when I got there. Right down to the “Beep For Breakfast” cup in your earlier blog posts, and complete with the little bird (who then appeared on both the carton and on my cup). Neither the cup nor the Beep bird could come back to New Brunswick with me though… it had to stay in Halifax where the Beep was.

Sadly, my grandmother has since passed on, but Beep still remains in Nova Scotia. To this day, whenever I go to Halifax to visit family or friends, I stock up on Beep for the trip home. Upon my return, it never lasts more than a week in my fridge, but it’s enjoyed while it does last.

Just last month, I made such a trip. I had a rental car, a Dodge Caliber, and conveniently these cars have a refrigerated glove box in which I was able to store a stash of Beep for the trip home (see photo). Also in the photo is my travelling companion, who by the grin on his face enjoys Beep every bit as much as I do. Maybe he’s a distant relative to the bird on the original box art, who knows.

Anyway, thought I’d share…
Cheers, and good Beeps
Dan C.

Hot 103 radio station talks about BEEP

2009-03-01T07:56:00.000-08:00

Check out Hot 103's radio conversation about Beep Drink.

Beep in the USA

2009-01-26T17:11:00.001-08:00

It appears that BEEP drink also was in the USA according to Pansypoo's blog.

"Beep" was a orange breakfast drink made by Reliable Dairy in South Bend Indiana many years ago. Their slogan was Beep for Breakfast! Not sure if this is what you were looking for or not. My Grandfather worked at the dairy and brought home Beep promo items like cups, a bird whistle, a pith helmut, etc.

Cute story about "BEEP For Breakfast" cup...

2009-01-26T16:59:00.000-08:00

...over at this person's blog.

Beep For Breakfast cup for sale in Japan

2009-01-26T16:45:00.000-08:00

Check out this adorable cup for sale on this Japanese website ...If I understood Japanese I would buy it in a heartbeat ... :(

Brain Capacity

2009-01-23T14:31:00.000-08:00

I'm not the only one with Beep on the brain. Check out Brain Capacity's musings on Beep juice.

Reader submitted memories of Beep Juice

2009-01-23T14:22:00.000-08:00

Anonymous - Beep was an orange sugar water put out by the dairy board - specifically (sp?) Parmalat Dairy. Just another attempt by the dairy industry to get us hooked. As if the chemicals in milk aren't enough - let's fill our kids with sugar water....mmmmm!

Thea - I am late to the Beep debate but we had it on the east coast too!! Our staple foods at lunch time were Beep and a licorice. Oh, teenage eating disorders! What fun. I can see the package so clearly, just like a small milk carton, bright orange with the little chick. :)

Mike, Jen and Julie - Hello Sarah, just thought you'd like to know that me and my two sisters are on a vacation in Rome (from Calgary) and are laughing our asses off about Beep. I googled Beep and found your blog. Even though we loved beep as kids, we have started using the word beep to describe crappy things. Ie, today we visited some ruins (somewhat crappy ruins) and my sister declared them to be the beep of ruins. Ciao from Roma!

Dave - I used to drink Beep all the time, one litre size, after a big night of roller skating or skate boarding. All my brothers and friends bought it at 7/11 in the early to mid 80's.

Anonymous - I love BEEP! I think they still sell it in Cape Breton. Didn't have a bird hatching from an egg on the carton? Having BEEP was way better than McDonalds orange drink. What a great name for a product...BEEP...it is just fun to say.

Anonymous - LOL Beep was a great product! No nutritional value whatsoever and a vibrant unnatural orange colour, it must have been distributed in Saskatchewan by Co-Op dairies because our milkman (remember those guys?) used to deliver it along with our milk 3 times a week. When I was about 10, my brother would have been 4, he was in bed and I brought him a drink of beep to which I had added some tabasco sauce...he drank it and started yipping and hollering and ran downstairs to tell on me...unfortunately our parents had guests over and man was I in trouble...I should mention that I wasn't in the habit of doing this kind of thing, we sure laugh about it now and my brother's wife keeps threatening to do something similar to me when I least expect it...

Pam - I grew up in Richmond, VA (DEFINITELY not Canada!) and we had Beep, although my family never got it. It was delivered with the milk. Came in a carton. And yes, there was a picture of a chick on the carton. Some of my friends even had Beep cups -- plastic yellow cups with the red Beep chick. I was so jealous....

Beep Juice ingredients

2009-01-23T14:11:00.000-08:00

Beep Juice ingredients taken from the Farmer's Dairy Beep Juice page. I have no idea if this brand of Beep Juice is the same as the Saskatchewan juice I drank as a child

Ingredients: Water, sugar, concentrated orange juice, concentrated apple juice, apricot puree, citric acid, prune syrup, orange pulp, modified corn starch, canola oil, flavour, sodium citrate, colour, sodium benzoate, ascorbic acid.

Here is the nutritional content.
A photo of the East Coast packaging.

Farmers Dairy out East makes Beep

2009-01-23T14:00:00.000-08:00

I googled Beep manufactures and found Farmers Dairy out east makes Beep. I wrote to ask if I could order some Beep to BC and this was their response.

Hi Sarah,
Thank you for your inquiry. We do make beep, however, we only have distribution in the Atlantic Provinces and I am not aware of any other companies that make it.

Since we do not have distribution outside the Atlantic Province, you would have to find a carrier with refrigeration to pick up the product prepaid at our Halifax location. I am not aware of any carriers offering this service. If you are successful in locating a carrier and wish to purchase some beep, please contact me and I will have our credit department advise you of your payment options.

Kind regards,
Ron Marchand
Farmers Dairy Consumer Care

American's Guide to Canada

2009-01-23T13:56:00.000-08:00

An American's Guide to Canada mentions Beep.

Manitoba drink made from about 1% real orange juice, 99% sugar, water, food colouring. Another visitor reports this is also available in the Maritimes.

Beep drink cups

2009-01-23T13:55:00.000-08:00

I found some Beep Juice drink cups at an antique store.

Beep Juice!

2009-01-23T13:54:00.000-08:00

Does anyone remember "BEEP juice"?

We also called it Beep Drink because I don't think it had enough fresh ingredients for it to actually be juice.

I drank it at track meets and birthday parties when I was in grade school. I think it may be a Saskatchwan thing... but does anyone else remember it?? It came in a white "milk" type carton with orange writing...I think the packaging boasted that it was 1% real juice. *laugh*