William Radcliff, the creator of the Slush Puppie brand of Frozen Carbonated Drinks has died in Cincinnati earlier this week, aged 74.
Back in 1970 at a Chicago trade show, Mr Radcliff was inspecting a slush-making machine when the idea “I could sell a drink for 10 cents, and make 7 cents” on each sale, occurred to him, he told The Cincinnati Enquirer in 1998. Despite apparent similarities to 7-Eleven’s Slurpee which was also available at that time, Mr Radcliff founded Slush Puppie Corp with $970 in 1970 and went on to create a $25 million dollar a year business before selling to London-based Cadbury Schweppes for $16.6 million in 2000.
According to the Australian Slush Puppie Facebook page, Slush Puppie was established in Australia in 1978. Slush Puppies are available around the world and are sold in many convenience stores and gas/petrol stations as well as from vending machines.
Mr Radcliff‘s daughter, DeeAnn Radcliff Harmon, told The Associated Press, “He could sell anything to anybody”.