Gatorade Essay

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I. Gatorade Service/ Overview Gatorade is a brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature product: a line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first developed in 1965 by researchers at the University of Florida, to replenish the combination of water, carbohydrates, and electrolytes that the school's student-athletes lost in sweat during rigorous athletic competitions. Thus, its name was derived from the collective nickname of the university's athletic teams, the Florida Gators. Originally produced and marketed by Stokely-Van Camp, the Gatorade brand was purchased by the Quaker Oats Company in 1983, which itself was bought by PepsiCo in 2001. As of 2010, Gatorade is PepsiCo’s 4th-largest brand, on the basis of worldwide annual retail sales. It only competes with Coca-Cola's Powerade and Vitaminwater brands worldwide; plus, Lucozade Sport in the United Kingdom. Within the United States, Gatorade accounts for approximately 75 percent market share in the sports drink category Gatorade was formulated in 1965 by a team of researchers at the University of Florida College of Medicine, including Robert Cade, Dana Shires, Harry James Free and Alejandro de Quesada.[6] It was created following a request from Florida Gators football head coach Ray Graves to aid athletes by acting as a hydrating replacement for body fluids lost during physical exertion in hot weather. The earliest versions of the beverage consisted of a mixture of water, sodium, sugar, potassium, phosphate, and lemon juice. Ten players on the University of Florida football team tested the first version of Gatorade during practices and games in 1965, and the tests were deemed successful. The football team credited Gatorade as having contributed to their first Orange Bowl win over the Georgia

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