Vimto's deep purple colour and unmistakable grape, raspberry and blackcurrant flavour started life more than a century ago as something closer to medicine than a soft drink, sold by a Manchester herb and spice wholesaler with an eye for a gap in the market.
1908: a tonic for the temperance movement
John Noel Nichols, a Blackburn-born wholesaler of herbs, spices and medicines trading in Manchester, began selling the health tonic that would become Vimto in 1908. It was created deliberately as a non-alcoholic alternative at a time when the temperance movement was pushing hard against drinking, and the Licensing Act 1904 was already tightening restrictions on where and how alcohol could be sold. Nichols saw an opening for a tonic that herbalists and temperance bars, alcohol-free venues set up as an alternative to the pub, could sell to a public increasingly steered away from drink.
From 'Vim Tonic' to Vimto
The name Vimto is a shortened form of 'Vim Tonic', vim being an old-fashioned word for energy or vigour, exactly the kind of pick-me-up the drink was marketed as. Nichols formally registered the name Vimto as a medicine in December 1912, then registered it again just two months later as a beverage, covering both the health-tonic and soft-drink angles the product straddled in its early years.
From concentrate to national brand
Vimto grew steadily rather than overnight. By June 1920, Vimto concentrate was being supplied to bottling agents right across the UK, who mixed it up into sparkling Vimto for sale in shops, pubs and temperance bars alike, and distribution was already spreading abroad by that point too. That concentrate-and-bottler model is part of why Vimto became such a genuinely national drink rather than a regional one, it could be bottled locally all over the country from the same original recipe.
Beyond the bottle
Vimto's flavour, that distinctive blend built around grape, raspberry and blackcurrant, long ago outgrew the drinks aisle. It's now just as familiar as a sweet flavour in its own right, showing up in boiled sweets, chews and lollies that borrow the same deep purple colour and fruity hit as the original bottle. You'll find several of them in our Vimto collection, more than a century on from a Manchester wholesaler's temperance-era tonic.
Frequently asked questions
Who invented Vimto and when?
John Noel Nichols, a Manchester wholesaler of herbs, spices and medicines, began selling the tonic that became Vimto in 1908, originally as a non-alcoholic health tonic.
Where does the name Vimto come from?
Vimto is a shortened form of 'Vim Tonic', with 'vim' meaning energy or vigour. John Noel Nichols registered the name Vimto as a medicine in December 1912, and again two months later as a beverage.
Why was Vimto originally sold as a non-alcoholic drink?
Vimto launched during the temperance movement, when the Licensing Act 1904 was tightening restrictions on alcohol sales, and Nichols spotted an opening for a non-alcoholic tonic sold through herbalists and temperance bars, venues set up specifically as alcohol-free alternatives to pubs.