Paso de los Toros (drink)

Paso de los Toros (English: Bulls' Pass) is a Uruguayan commercial line of carbonated soft drinks named after the Uruguayan city Paso de los Toros. Originally produced by a local company, it is currently manufactured by Pepsi. Originally being a name for tonic water, Paso de los Toros was expanded into a line in itself, with the inclusion of Lemon and grapefruit flavored drinks.

History

In the 1920s Paso de Los Toros had a population of approximately 8,000 inhabitants. Among them an Englishman, Jorge Jones, who moved there to work on the railroads. Rómulo Mangini, a chemistry student from Montevideo also moved there with his wife to work in his in-law's business. A short while later, the chemist opened a soda factory where he produced soap and later on soft drinks with fruit flavors. It was an afternoon in 1926 when these two men met at a club called 25 de Agosto. Jones dared the young chemist to try to come up with a formula to produce tonic water similar to the one that was currently being sold in Uruguay, Bull Dog, an English brand. Jones knew the components and Mangini would try to work out the exact proportions. Mangini accepted the challenge and for months tried out different formulas and with each new formula he would go to the club and have Jones try them out. Finally after several attempts, one day in 1929, they reached their objective. According to Jones’ refined palate, the Uruguayan tonic water had successfully surpassed the one imported from London. The drink was a success and quickly it outgrew its staff and facilities. In 1947 Sociedad Anónima de Agua Tónica Paso de los Toros was founded and shares were sold at ten pesos each. In 1950 as the demand for the drink increased, Mangini decided to open up a factory in Montevideo. In 1955, the majority of the stockholders had sold their shares to Pepsi Cola, which on February 14, 1955 took over the company. This was a hard blow for Mangini who died in 1957.^[1]

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