Murray Wood: Taylor Swift engagement a nice way to end a cruel summer
Murray Wood says the only thing as amusing as the reaction of fans to Taylor Swift's engagement announcement on Tuesday ...
Ever since Shelley Patterson introduced dirty sodas to her candy store’s menu—it hasn’t gone flat.
“We’ve been making them non-stop,” she said. “I’m sure we’ve made about 50 a day.”
Read more:
- Camp Easter Seal: The Saskatchewan summer camp that embraces disability
- Nurses help pay for flight to get Swift Current man bitten by rattlesnake back to Sask.
- Tips for parents as the cost of back-to-school supplies rises
The owner of Dessart Sweets Ice Cream & Candy Store in Regina is just one Saskatchewan business that’s cashing in on the sugary drinks that have gained popularity from social media and reality television show ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.’
The drink begins with a can of pop or an energy drink, and then is spiced up with fruity syrups, cream and candies.
Dirty sodas originated in Utah, around Mormonism, where people don’t drink tea, coffee or alcohol – but do drink pop.
Dirty soda franchises are bubbling up from the United States to Saskatchewan. Crumbl, an American dessert and dirty soda franchise, has popped up in Saskatoon’s Brighton neighbourhood.
Listen to the story on Behind the Headlines:
Patterson first came across the cola concoction while scrolling on TikTok.
“I’m always looking for something fun for people to try in Regina,” she said.
Her business debuted the drink at the Cathedral Village Arts Festival in May – and hasn’t fizzled out since then.
“It’s bringing in a new target audience which is fun,” Patterson said. “If they haven’t been to my store before … then they get to experience the store as well.”
Patterson now has a variety of dirty soda choices to choose from, including an Alani energy dirty soda on the menu.
Patterson said the most popular flavour of dirty soda the store sells is a Dr. Pepper grenadine creamer concoction called Dr. P’s Recipe. (Dessart Sweets/ Facebook)
Brianna Berenyi stopped by the candy store with her family to taste test the ‘Do the Dew’ dirty soda, a punch of peach, cream and Mountain Dew.
“I haven’t gotten one anywhere else in Regina,” she said. “This is kind of why we came here. It’s very good. I’m definitely gonna try all the flavours.”
Montmartre dirty soda truck hits the sweet spot with sales
Jonah Perras has been taking his Perras Boys Concession food trucks across provincial and state lines for five years.
Three years ago, he added dirty sodas to the menu after seeing their popularity in Utah.
“We saw how popular they were in the States, and we realized that there was no market or anything like that in Saskatchewan yet,” Perras said. “We were the first mobile dirty soda trailer in Saskatchewan.”
Perras Boys Concession serves fries and dirty sodas with its two food trucks. Jonah (right) stands with his sister in the truck. (Jonah Perras/ Facebook)
He said the sodas always reeled in customers with bright colours and fruity flavours, but people’s interest in dirty sodas is continuing to climb.
“We’re definitely seeing an increase in our sales,” Perras said. “We’re getting a lot of messages and people reaching out about bringing dirty sodas to their events.
“With them becoming more popular in Saskatchewan – you get more competition – but the demand is also growing quite a bit.”
“Dirty sells,” says food professor and researcher
The sipping of pop per capita in Canada isn’t growing, according to Sylvain Charlebois, the director of Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.
He said sodas have received some negative attention from the nutrition community, and nutritionists have actually discouraged people from drinking sodas in general.
“PR around sodas hasn’t been great, so you have to figure out a way to market it differently,” Charlebois said.
He said pop companies need to figure out how to create a “new generation of soda drinkers.”
“Dirty sells,” Charlebois said with a laugh. “It’s a good way to actually get some attention.”
Much like the popularity of dirty martinis and dirty chai tea lattes, he said the title in itself is intriguing to customers.
Charlebois said the ingredients are affordable, but the product can be marked up.
“Frankly, margins are probably insane,” he said. “Let’s be honest here, you can actually increase your prices because sodas are dirt cheap.”
Dirty sodas aren’t a new item. However, Charlebois said, with the expansion of franchises, the trend may not go flat.
“It’s too soon to tell whether or not this will actually stick,” he said. “But I do believe that dirty sodas are here to stay, because they’ve been around for a long time already.
“It’s just whether or not the expansion of the trend will last.”
Perras is also hoping to expand his business, looking for a storefront in the Regina area.
Patterson said she hopes to expand her dirty soda menu with new creations for the fall.
