…is a famous advertising slogan used in the 70s for Irn Bru, the Scottish soft drink that tastes a bit like, well, iron girders. I read a fascinating article today though which tickled my nostalgia for a romantic past before digitalisation and automation. It turns out the recipe for Irn Bru is only known by 2 people in the entire world (and for that reason they never fly together on the same plane). One of those people is company chairman Robin Barr whose great grandfather came up with the Irn Bru recipe in 1901. It has not changed in 108 years, and Robin Barr still every month enters a sealed room at the company’s HQ in Scotland where he combines the 32 different ingredients making up the drink, mixing them in a huge vat containing enough mixture for 8000 litres of the stuff. Robin Barr is soon to stand down as chairman of A.G. Barr, the company which makes Irn Bru, but he will continue for the time being to come in monthly to mix the drink. Eventually, he admits, he will pass the recipe on to his daughter, who will then take over mixing duties. What a brilliant, romantic way of running a business.
It’s made me thirsty… thirsty for a drink made from girders!
P.S. For anyone worried that both people who know the Irn Bru recipe might die from swine flu, taking the recipe with them, they needn’t fear, as it is also stored on paper in a secret, secure bank vault somewhere in Scotland.
Fascinating.
That is awesome !!