Gatorade is a still (non-carbonated) sports drink originally made for athletes, but is often also consumed by non-athletes. Gatorade was created by Dr. Robert Cade and Dr. Dana Shires at the University of Florida in 1966 and named for the University's football team, the Gators. The drink is intended to rehydrate and replenish the carbohydrates (using sucrose, glucose and fructose), salts, vitamins, and minerals depleted during aerobic exercise (particularly in the debilitating Florida climate).
Dr Cade entered into an agreement with the Indianapolis, Indiana -based fruit and vegetable canning company Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. (S-VC) to produce the product, which he had already patented. In 1973 Cade and S-VC settled a lawsuit with the University of Florida, which had claimed the University owned the rights for the drink's formula. Since that time the University has received more than $80 million in Gatorade royalties.
Only a year after its commercial introduction Gatorade was reformulated, as its initial recipe contained the sweetener sodium cyclamate, which was banned by the FDA. [1]
Marketed with dramatically perspiring athletic imagery, the drink became popular with non-athletes, and dietetic and low-sodium versions were added to the Gatorade product lineup.
The Quaker Oats company bought S-VC in 1983, after a bidding-war with rival Pillsbury. Quaker licensed manufacturing of Gatorade in some worldwide markets to PepsiCo, but sued Pepsi in Australia in 1998, alleging Pepsi had misappropriated Gatorade trade secrets to manufacture its own sports drink, All Sport. Quaker won the Australian case [1]. In December 2000 Pepsico acquired Quaker (after another bidding-war, this time with arch rival Coca-Cola). Both bidders valued Quaker largely because of the contribution of the Gatorade brand.
