The first electric power lines were installed in Foxton during 1918 to provide the modern convenience of electric lighting. The three linesmen installing lines on Main Street were thirsty in the summer of 1918 and one of their wives bought them a refreshing drink. One of them suggested that flavour, colour and sugar be added and Foxton Fizz was born.

Before the famous Foxton windmill was built, there was the Tower of Terror, a water slide fed with diluted sugar water from the Foxton Fizz factory. It was the tallest structure on Main Street for over 3 years when it vanished one night in January 1931. The tower re-appeared 2 weeks later in Napier in an act of retaliation for Foxton Rugby Football Club’s 1927 theft of the famous Giant Grape from Napier. The Grape was repainted brown at the Foxton Fizz factory before being installed in Victoria Park and officially renamed the Large Lamb Dropping. The tower was destroyed a week later in the February 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake.

Free Foxton Fizz was delivered daily to local schools during the depression for health benefits until 1937 when the government’s free milk in schools scheme began.

Miss Foxton Fizz 1942 shows off new Cocktail flavour before her trip to visit kiwi troops at war in the Pacific. Soldiers discovered that the bottles made excellent non explosive grenades. A well thrown bottle could easily knock out an enemy if hit on the head and bottles were also made into molotov cocktails. However the pink petrol filled bottles were easily confused with pink Cocktail flavour which resulted in Fresh Fizz being thrown during fighting providing the enemy with a delicious and refreshing drink.

Mrs Prudence Potts purchased the 1,000,000th bottle of Foxton Fizz and received a cake and voucher for a free bottle of Foxton Fizz.

The running of the annual Foxton Fizz Steeplechase in 1961. Palmerston North horse “Carbonated Cola” won with a time of 8.47 and took home a barrel of Foxton Fizz (Tropic flavour as pictured) for 1st price. The horse lost the next year after stopping at the jump to drink fizz from a leaking barrel but wen on to win again in 1963 after the leaky barrel was patched.

The first supermarket to stock Foxton Fizz in 1961 – Harolds Self Service Supermarket. It stocked the most popular flavour Carrot & Pineapple complete with a new innovative paper label. A roaring trade one day in 1967 saw 11 bottles sold topping the old one day record from 1959 of 9 bottles from Donald’s Dairy across the road. This led to a falling out between Harold and Donald that led to an unfortunate incident when Donald rode his horse into Harold’s supermarket which knocked over a crate of Fizz. He was arrested and fined $6.50 for misuse of a horse in a retail premises.

Local resident and Foxton fashion icon Garry Green is hired to promote Foxton Fizz at the Agricultural and Pastoral Show. Garry was well known in Foxton for his stylish dress sense & popular appeal amongst women. Gary aspired to become a famous celebrity in Levin and even Otaki. Foxton Fizz hoped to revive flaging sales after the controversial decision to drop Pumpkin flavour from production in 1974, a decision which the Foxton Knitting and Crochet Club described as “very silly”. The A&P show opened to a great start but 9 children saw Garry not smoking while sitting in a tractor. The parents of the 9 children were angered at the poor example he was setting and after a second incident were he tied off No. 8 fencing wire incorrectly in the celebrity Fencing Competition he was ejected from the show for “unfarming like conduct”. The disgraced Garry move to Wellington to become an MP.

The Foxton Fizz Delivery Plane making it’s first flight in September 1987. Before sealed roads in the district the “Flying Fox” made deliveries to the school, Harolds supermarket and Donald’s dairy. Landing on main street meant dodging overhead wires and pedestrians but the daily delivery time was quicker by over 5 minutes. The plane was also used for sightseeing flights over Foxton Beach and to deliver shampoo to local hairdressing salons.

Foxton Fizz introduces new modern scientific methods and research to develop exciting new fizz flavours such as the enhanced Curly Top Lemonade and De Luxe Kola, The installation of a new telephone in the factory replaced the direct morse telegraph connection to the Foxton Working Mens Club. And an advanced new wide internet page featuring the telephone number and Foxton Fizz logo goes online.

Today Foxton Fizz is sold at many modern milk bars and tea rooms throughout the lower North Island. Foxton Fizz is one of the few remaining independent soda companies operating in New Zealand. 94 years and still going strong. We are proud of our Fizz and are sure you will enjoy our fantastic fizzy fruity flavours too.