As West’s turns 150, New Zealand’s oldest independent soft drink company is facing an exciting future.
The West’s factory at 135 Bay View Road in Dunedin is a living monument to the soft drink company’s extensive history.
Hints of the past remain - the house where the previous owners lived, the remnants of a golf driving range in the factory’s upstairs storeroom, and the stack of vintage recipe books that are still referred to occasionally.
But this is no museum exhibit. Some of the plant used in production may be getting close to antiquity but it’s still highly functional, and supplemented by modern equipment.
As they’ve done for a century and a half now, the family-owned West’s still churns out a wide range of beverages, including carbonated soft drinks, cordials, and syrups for slushies, milk shakes, and soda machines.
Flavours include beloved favourites such as Pineapple and Pear, Chocolade, Cola & Raspberry, Classic Lemonade, Ice Cream Soda, Mango and Orange, and plenty more.
And as the company turns 150, there’s a major rebrand underway that is leading the company’s products into the future while acknowledging its history.
That story stretches back to 1876 when Tom West launched a grocery store on Maclaggan Street, selling cordials in hand-crafted bottles. West’s moved to its current St Kilda home in 1914 (see the sidebar for more of the company’s history).
Having bought West’s in 2021, Angela and Craig McFarlane feel the responsibility of continuing what is a time-honoured Dunedin institution.
‘‘We took over the business knowing that we were custodians of a legacy that you must be very mindful of,’’ Craig says. ‘‘That weighs very heavily on the decisions that we make.’’
Having lived and worked in Asia for eight years, the couple had moved to Dunedin with their three sons. They took over West’s from Alf and Kaye Loritan in August 2021, with Angela at the helm for the first couple of years while Craig remained in his engineering job.
Now they’re both fulltime in the business, which also employs six others. One of the team has been with Wests since 1989, another took over from his dad when he retired, and another has been in soft drink all their working life, having previously been employed at Lane’s in Dunedin.
After spending a few years running West’s and assessing the business, Angela and Craig began the process of rebranding the products to coincide with the 150th anniversary.
They’ve worked with graphic designer Jamie Turnbull from the Port Chalmers-based Studio Narrative, who has years of experience working with the likes of Sealords, HeinzWatties, and Frucor.
The new branding for West’s Original Soda Co. features fresh and contemporary typography, while still recognising the company’s legacy.
‘‘Jamie’s done very well in keeping with the nostalgia of it, which was quite important,’’ Angela explains.
There are also nods to the past with the new bottles for the slushy and milk shake syrups, which echo some of the West’s bottles from the past.
Clearly, being able to refer to 150 years of history is a huge benefit to the rebranding exercise, and Craig admits they laugh when other companies talk about looking retro or recreating the flavours of the past.
‘‘We are the genuine retro product,’’ he says. ‘‘We don’t have to recreate it, we’ve always been it.’’
Although the packaging and the messaging has been updated the flavours remain exactly the same, as the McFarlane’s know that changing those would affect long-term customers.
There are plenty of those. The factory shop attracts students before school, and many others, including lifetime Pineapple and Pear aficionados. West’s is also stocked at Fresh Choice supermarkets in Dunedin, and the milk shake and slushy syrups are used by local suppliers and convenience stores, and the postmix soda syrup and cordials by many pubs and restaurants.
The company is also actively endeavouring to expand in other parts of New Zealand where their name is not so well known as it is in Dunedin.
‘‘Our biggest objective is to be seen more,’’ Angela says. ‘‘That’s why we’ve rebranded, to make it more visible out there on the shelf.’’
As West’s reaches a huge milestone and moves into its second 150 years, their aspiration is to now be the most loved little drinks company in New Zealand.
History in a bottle
1876: Thomas West opens grocery store on Maclaggan Street.
1895: The company starts brewing ginger beer, hop beer, and cider in commercial quantities.
1914: Tom’s sons Walter and Charlie open factory on Bay View Road.
1916: Founder Thomas West dies on October 22.
1930: The business is sold to the Finnie family, who are related to the Wests.
1944: The St Kilda factory is expanded to its current size.
1966: West’s is purchased by Mr & Mrs McKinstry and Colin Colquhoun.
1976: The business changes hands again, with William Moseley taking over.
1987: Lance and Ray Pearson buy West’s and modernise the business.
2007: Alf and Kaye Loretan purchase the company.
2021: Craig and Angela McFarlane take over the soft drink business.
2026: West’s Original Soda Co. celebrates 150 years with a rebrand.
