V8 Vegetable Juice, sometimes just called V8, is a trademarked name for a number of beverage products sold worldwide that are made from eight vegetables, or a mixture of vegetables and fruits. Since 1948, the brand has been owned by the Campbell Soup Company. The original V8 vegetable juice was tomato-based and got its name from the fact that it contained juice from eight different vegetables.
The original V8 is made mainly from water and tomato concentrate, and reconstituted vegetable juice blend: water and concentrate of eight vegetables, specifically: beets, celery, carrots, lettuce, parsley, watercress, spinach, and tomato. Tomato juice makes up around 87% of the total drink. Campbell's has produced several varieties of the drink, such as Original, Spicy Hot, Hint of Black Pepper, Lemon, Picante, Low-Sodium, and Organic. Three spin-offs of the V8 brand; "V8 Energy," "V8 Splash" and "V8 V•Fusion;", are blends of fruit and vegetable juices. V8 Splash is a juice cocktail partially sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup and sucralose; diet versions of V8 Splash omit the high-fructose corn syrup. V8 Energy also classifies as a cocktail and is partially sweetened with sucralose. V•Fusion is made from 100% juice.
History
V8 Vegetable Juice was developed by Frank Constable of Chicago, Illinois, who worked as a contractor for W.G. Peacock, the founder of the New England Products Company, which manufactured individual vegetable juices under the brand name Vege-min and, in the 1930's, a combination labelled Vege-min 8. Frank Constable devised a particular formula for the brand and this blend - launched in 1947 as V8 Vegetable Cocktail Juice - has endured. The product was named by Constable after the V8 engine, the most powerful at the time. In 1948, the Campbell Soup Company acquired the brand from the Charles Loudon Packing Company in Terre Haute, Indiana, and has maintained continuous production of the beverage through the present day.
Derivative beverages
A few cocktail drinks use V8, most famously the "bloody eight" or "eight ball", which is a Bloody Mary with V8 instead of tomato juice.
V8 fruit & vegetable juice
Campbell's also makes V8 100% Fruit & Vegetable Juice, combining vegetable juice with fruit juices for one serving of vegetables and one serving of fruits. This is available elsewhere as V8 V-Fusion. They are also sold in "light" versions containing 50% juice with added flavors to reduce calorie content. V8 V-Fusion + Tea was recently introduced. It contains a 1/2 serving of vegetables and a 1/2 serving of fruits. Some varieties are composed of:
Strawberry Banana: Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Carrots, Beets, White Grapes, Oranges, Apples, Strawberries, Bananas and Banana Puree.
Goji Raspberry: Sweet Potatoes, Purple Carrots, Carrots, Apples, White Grapes, Cherries, Strawberries, Blackberry, Oranges, Goji, Red Raspberry, Lemon Juice.
In Australia the V8 range includes 100% Fruit & Vegetable Juice, combining vegetable juice with fruit juices for one serving of vegetables and one serving of fruit, in the following flavors:
Tropical
Breakfast
Pineapple Passion
Apple Mango
Orange Mango Passion
In 2015 the V8 Power Blend range was also launched in Australia, these 100% Vegetable Juice & Fruit juices contain 2 servings of vegetables are available in the following flavors:
V8 also manufactures a line of juice-based energy drinks, sold in individual aluminum cans. Each includes 80 mg of caffeine per serving and is fortified with B vitamins. V8 Energy drinks are typically lower in sugar per fluid ounce compared to its juices, with the drinks partially sweetened with sucralose; other than caffeine, V8 Energy does not contain any of the various other stimulants found in other energy drinks.
V8 +Energy: A non-carbonated beverage of 50% juice, available in and cans. Flavors include original, black cherry, peach-mango, pomegranate-blueberry, orange-pineapple, raspberry-vanilla, and tropical greens.
V8 +Energy Sparkling: A carbonated beverage of 34% juice, typically sold in cans and -can four-packs. Currently produced flavors include Orange Pineapple, White Grape Raspberry, Cranberry Blackberry and Kiwi Melon.
