CLAMATO

'Clamato' (a portmanteau of "clam" and "tomato") is a trademark of the Mott's company which denotes a drink made primarily of reconstituted tomato juice concentrate and reconstituted dried clam broth, with a dash of high fructose corn syrup, and USDA Red 40 to maintain a 'natural' tomato colour. It is also referred to (inaccurately) as ''clamato juice''. Clamato was produced in its current form beginning in 1966 by the Duffy-Mott company in Hamlin, New York, by two employees who wanted to create a New England type cocktail by combining tomato juice and clam broth with spices. They also named the new cocktail Mott's Clamato and secured the trademark for the new brand. The Duffy Mott company began marketing Mott's Clamato as a refreshing New England style cocktail without alcohol. Mott's Clamato was discovered by a group of Canadian Foodservice Distributors in 1970 including Irving Glasnor from Vancouver, BC looking to use this unique cocktail in one of their favorite new cocktails in Canada called the Caesar. In 1969, a new Canadian Cocktail was created in Calgary, AB by Walter Chell who was the head bartender for the Calgary Inn (now the Westin Hotel). They were opening up a new restaurant called Marco's and the Bloody Caesar was created to celebrate the new opening. The original recipe for the Caesar Cocktail began with Tomato Juice and Clam Broth mixed with Worchestershire Sauce and Tobasco. The glass was rimmed with celery salt and garnished with a stick of celery. Walter modelled this recipe after his favorite spaghetti sauce Spaghetti Con Vongole. Irving Glasnor began importing Mott's Clamato into Canada from the USA and started with 500 cases in 1970 for use in the Caesar Cocktail in Bars throughout Alberta then across Western Canada. He signed an agreement with the Duffy Mott company to produce and distribute Mott's Clamato across Canada. Today the Mott's Clamato Caesar is one of the top selling cocktails across Canada and is considered a true Canadian success story.[1] The brand is now owned by Cadbury-Schweppes when Mott's was bought out in 1982.

Contents

Cocktail base

Generic tomato-clam beverages

Cultural significance

External links

Cocktail base

Clamato is a popular mixer for mass-market American and Canadian beer. The Bloody Caesar is commonly regarded as the national cocktail of Canada. The Caesar has become so popular that Mott's now markets multiple varieties of pre-mixed Caesars in 341 ml (12-ounce) bottles, in addition to non-alcoholic Caesar blends such as "extra spicy" and "all-dressed" (including Worcestershire, tabasco and horseradish) as a more convenient mixer. The Caesar is Canada's most popular cocktail, with over 250 million selling every year[2]. 82% of the Caesar-drinking households in Canada use Mott's Clamato as the base[3].

Generic tomato-clam beverages

The success of Clamato has led to the introduction of several imitation beverages, usually marketed as ''tomato-clam cocktail''. The generic beverages are often considerably cheaper than Clamato and have cut into Mott's market share. Many people do not distinguish between Mott's product and those of its competitors and will refer to any tomato-clam beverage as ''clamato'', thus threatening Mott's trademark with genericide. The subject is further confused by the fact that in the United States and Latin America the product is labelled simply "Clamato" but in Canada the product is always labelled "Mott's Clamato".
Mott's has taken steps to protect its trademark, running print, radio and television advertisements which attempt to distinguish Mott's Clamato from generic tomato-clam beverages.

Cultural significance

Many Anglo-Americans consider ''Clamato'' to be an acquired taste. Those who enjoy Clamato appreciate its complex, savoury and unexpectedly sweet flavour, especially as a cocktail mixer. Those who dislike it may have a fear of clams and other shellfish, a memory of the Bass-o-Matic mock-infomercial on ''Saturday Night Live'', or may find in it a locus of cognitive dissonance: it is labeled as a beverage, in its virtually uncontested category of 'Seafood Blends', but it falls more easily into the category of 'soup.' Chicken or beef broth cocktails, no matter how much tomato juice were involved, would no doubt meet with similar suspicion.
Widely known in the United States as a drink that "nobody likes", Clamato in fact commands an underground following akin to pork rinds. According to the Mott's company, its greatest popularity is among Hispanics, toward whom, after a disastrous misstep in the 1990s, most of the product's American advertising is now devoted. In 2002, it was estimated that Hispanics purchased 70% of Clamato in the US. In addition, Clamato is one of the standard in-flight beverages on Mexicana airlines and a staple item in Mexican cantinas. Mott's discovered that Dominicans and Mexicans enjoy it as a mixer with beer, eg: the Chavela cocktail. In 2007, Budweiser rolled out Chelada, a combination of Bud or Bud Light mixed with Clamato in 24oz cans. This product was rolled out in test markets in California and Texas, and while sales were reported to be going well, at this time Budweiser does not plan to roll out Chelada nationwide. Clamato inherits from its clam broth component a folk reputation as an aphrodisiac. Mott's also has extended the line recently, developing Clamato Campestre, with roasted garlic, cilantro and Worcestershire sauce; and, more recently, Clamato Energia, which competes in the popular energy drink category led by Red Bull.
Clamato's American reputation has not carried over into Latin America or Canada, where the beverage is extremely popular both as a mixer and as a stand-alone drink. In Canada, Mott's Clamato is sold in tetra-paks of three suitable for lunch boxes. Its primary market in Canada, however, is in the preparation of a cocktail known as a Bloody Caesar or simply a "Caesar", which resembles a Bloody Mary but includes Clamato or clam cocktail, and is garnished with a stalk of celery and a hotly-spiced rim. Pre-mixed Bloody Caesar RTD cocktails are also available in the original and extra spicy flavors.

★ Mott's also makes Beefamato, and once made something called Nutrimato.

External links

★ Clamato official website

★ Redesigned official site

★ Article about Clamato in the Cincinnati Post