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Schweppe

Full Name: Jean Jacob Schweppe

Achievements: Started a soft drinks industry

Born: March, 1740; Witzenhausen, Hesse, Germany

Died: November, 1821; Geneva, Switzerland (Aged 81)

Field & Discipline: Business; Soft Drink Manufacturer

Language: German; English; French

Father: Conrad Schweppe

Mother: Unknown

Siblings: Unknown

Spouse: Eleonore Roget

Children: 1 of 9 survived to adulthood: Nicolarde (Colette)

Education: Little formal schooling

Major Work:

Schweppes artificial mineral waters

Life & Times:

Schweppe was probably first employed as a jeweller by Jean Louis Dunant, in Geneva, Switzerland, but he was greatly interested in science.  By the early 1770s, he had built a small laboratory in which he reproduced the experiments he found in scientific journals.

He was particularly interested in the work on gases of English chemist [studied work of] Joseph Priestley* and French chemist [studied work of] Lavoisier* and the discoveries they both had made about gas-and-water combinations.  Around 1773, Schweppe managed to reproduce the water-carbonation process and by the late 1770s  was producing artificial mineral waters ([commercialized] soda-water*)of good quality, though still not as good as he wanted.  He donated some of his production to doctors, who gave it to their poorer patients.

Schweppe had also become a successful jeweller, and in 1777, entered a jewellery partnership with Dunant's son.  Three months later, the jewellers' guild in Geneva gave Schweppe the title of master jeweller.  By 1783, he was able to buy a country house near Geneva.  Despite his successes in the gem trade, however, Schweppe was becoming better known as a producer of carbonated water, and is generally regarded as the founder of the soft drink industry.  By 1793, his carbonated water business was flourishing.

The production method that Schweppe invented became known as the Geneva System.  In principle, it consisted of an agitator that generated carbon dioxide from a mixture of chalk and sulfuric acid.  The gas was passed through water in one or more purification vessels and into a gasometer.  The gas was then pumped into a closed wooden carbonating vessel, bound with strong iron hoops, where it was dissolved in water under pressure with the assistance of another agitator.  The apparatus was the first to make practical and efficient use of a compression pump (suggested by Priestley and Lavoisier), and its principles were still in use a century later.

In 1790, Schweppe issued a prospectus claiming that imported natural mineral waters were inferior to his waters because of the loss of quality during the transport and storage.  The prospectus also outlined illnesses for which his waters were beneficial.   Though he started out producing mainly Seltzer water and Spa water manufactured from non-distilled water, he soon switched over to distilled water, which he used as a base for all his products.

Deciding to expand internationally, Schweppe went to England in 1792 and set up a factory in London.  During that year, however, he and his partners had a falling out and in 1793, the partnership was dissolved.

Schweppe kept the London business, which had a loyal following.   The distinguished engineer [a fan was] Boulton* sang the praises of Schweppe's waters, and [a fan was] Erasmus Darwin*, grandfather of Charles Darwin in his philosophical work "Zoonomia" (1796), approved Schweppe's Seltzer water for the way it eased "stone of the bladder".

Both Erasmus Darwin and Schweppe were members of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, an informal group which included Dr. William Withering, the discoverer of digitalis and the designer of Withering's Aerated Water Apparatus.

Many doctors prescribed Schweppe's Soda Water for patients suffering from kidney or bladder trouble, gall stones, indigestion and even gout.  From 1798, Schweppe's advertisements suggested adding his soda and seltzer waters to rum or brandy.

In 1798, after six years in England, Schweppe retired.  Thanks to Napoleon's annexation of Geneva, he had now acquired French citizenship, and in 1799 returned to Geneva, where, with the exception of two years in the Netherlands and England, where he spent his last 22 years.

Extra Connections:  His work related to that of  [work related to] Painter*.

Assessment: Invented a system of mass production of carbonated mineral waters, marking the start of the soft drink industry.

Oneliner: Jacob Schweppe, Swiss inventor of soft drinks

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