our story
from the beginning...
The year was 1957. Three Italian migrated to Canada and really missed their flavor drinks from home, especially the Chinotto, a unique flavor extracted from a sour, bitter orange that grows on Italian and Maltese soils and is used to make soft drinks. At first they started importing the drinks straight from Italy and distributing among the Italian and ethnic European communities in Toronto but they felt they could do more, and so in 1959 they decided to venture into the beverage manufacturing business, even though they had no experience in making soft drinks, but they were determined to bring their unique home flavors to Canada.
They imported the Chinotto extract from Italy but made the final product in Toronto, adding their own touch to the drink, mixing not only the ingredients from the two worlds, but also their experiences, the old and the new, and that is how the Brio Chinotto you know today came to be. They named it Brio as the meaning of the word represents the essence of the drink itself, the energy, the vibrancy, the fun, the vivacity, and the boldness.
Brio began to be distributed by the “pop trucks” and it soon became the favorite drink among the Italian Canadian families, alongside Mio Gasossa, a lemon flavor beverage, also produced by the company. In the 1960s Brio and Mio started to be sold in supermarkets and kept expanding to other provinces until it reached Quebec in the 1980s and became a huge success in the French-Canadian province, and today Brio is distributed all over Canada.
In 2017 five new amazing vibrant flavors were added to the Brio Family - Aranciata, Aranciata Rossa, Limonatta, Gasossa, and the new Chinotto flavors are made with cane sugar. The latest addition to the family came in 2018, the “Hard Brio”, which is the original Chinotto flavor with a touch of vodka. If you are familiar with the Brio Chinotto and haven’t tried the new flavors yet, you can check our map to find the nearest location to you that sells some Brio. If you are getting to know us now, welcome to our family! We hope you can enjoy the unique flavors and experience that Brio represents and bring in with every sip.
Cheers!