How Jarritos’ Coffee-Drink Flop Became a 75-Year Legacy

The first Jarritos recipe was a failure. It was a coffee-flavored soda, a beverage that proved to be exceedingly strange for its time. The Mexican soft drink brand—which shares a name with Carlos Slim's first company—was founded in 1950 by Francisco “El Güero” Hill, a chemist who had the idea of turning natural aguas frescas into carbonated beverages. Today, Jarritos is known for its wide variety of flavors and its presence beyond Mexico, a success that no one foresaw when the first recipe was created. "My father never imagined that Jarritos would go so far," stated Carlos Hill.

Why the First Jarritos Recipe 'Was a Failure'

Although “El Güero” Hill was a chemist by profession, his vocation was always linked to innovation, as one of his sons recounted in an interview with the website Nuestros Stories: Latino Heritage Everyday.

"He was very restless, extremely creative, and ahead of his time," explained one of his sons, Francisco Hill. "He was an inventor, in essence. He specialized in beverages," he commented.

Soft drinks first became popular in the United States, and then the 'boom' started in Mexico with cola sodas, which began to gain ground against fresh fruit waters. It was at that moment when Francisco ‘El Güero’ Hill saw a huge area of opportunity and began to look for a way to combine natural flavors with carbonated beverages.

"The dining table was full of bottles and pipettes. He would call us to taste: 'What does this remind you of?'. And if he stained the carpet, he would tell my mom: 'Don't worry, with this formula I'll buy you a new one,'" said one of his sons to Nuestros Stories: Latino Heritage Everyday.

The first drink was launched in 1950, the year Jarritos was officially established, and it was a coffee-flavored soft drink, which according to Carlos Hill was not popular: "It was a failure." For that time, coffee was a drink consumed only at breakfast accompanied by a little milk, so drinking it cold and as a bubbly beverage was not to many people's liking.

How the Fruit-Flavored Jarritos Was Invented

Francisco Hill did not give up and after experimenting with coffee, he filled his dining room with other ingredients: "natural fruit and sugar," as explained in a video published on the Jarritos YouTube channel.

"Jarritos created several unique flavors using delicious fruits, some of which come from secret mandarin orchards located in Yucatán," they indicate on the website, adding that the other fruits used to make the soft drinks are also Mexican. The lemons, grapefruits, hibiscus, tamarind, mandarins, pineapple, guava, and mangoes are sourced from states such as Guerrero, Oaxaca, Michoacán, Veracruz, Yucatán, Tabasco, and Chiapas.

Furthermore, in the process, Francisco “El Güero” Hill noticed a very important detail: natural sugar has a special flavor, so he decided to keep it intact, and it is still used today, according to their video. "All the natural flavors that Jarritos carries are what make them so appreciated in Mexico," they note, adding that by 1960 this drink had become a complete success.

Why the Soft Drink is Called Jarritos

In the interview with Nuestros Stories: Latino Heritage Everyday, Francisco Hill's sons affirmed that the name and logo pay homage to the little clay jars in which fresh waters were traditionally served.

Additionally, the logo was Hill's idea, who, besides being a chemist and inventor, was a great draftsman, as he could create logos in just two minutes, which is why from the beginning the bottles looked very similar to how we know them today.

"The first bottle already had the name Jarritos and the logo of the three painted jars. (…) It also had the small jars on the neck of the bottle and the slogan below the logo: ¡Qué buenos son! [They're so good!]," stated Carlos Hill.

However, the label did not explain what flavor the drink was, as people usually identified them by their color.

By 1988, the beverage began to be exported to the United States. The brand expanded its reach with the founding of Novamex, a company dedicated to managing its distribution outside the country. Despite its expansion, Jarritos retains its identity: "they kept the same delicious flavors and the same glass bottles," they affirm on the website.

In Mexico, the production and distribution of Jarritos is divided between two major bottlers: Embotelladora Mexicana and Grupo Embotelladoras Unidas (GEU); it is also exported to 45 countries.

Francisco Hill passed away in 2003; however, his sons keep the legacy alive: "Every trip, every photo we receive from places like Dubai, Sydney, Stockholm, or Seoul, for example, reminds us of my dad and how proud he would be to see Jarritos in so many countries. My father never imagined that Jarritos would go so far," Carlos commented to Nuestros Stories: Latino Heritage Everyday.

As a curious fact, Jarritos shares its name with the first company of businessman Carlos Slim, since in 1965 he decided to set aside his career as a stock market investor. His first step was acquiring Jarritos del Sur, a Mexican bottler that allowed him to enter the business world, but which is not related to the brand of ‘El Güero’ Hill, as he shared in an interview with Oso Trava.