vi-co... I never knew what it stood for

As I child in elementary school I remember being given two quarters from my parents to get a Vi-Co to drink with my lunch. It was always exciting. It was the highlight of most of our days, but up until today when I read our local paper I had no idea what Vi-Co stood for. I miss it dearly.

Vi-Co: short for "vitamin concentrate," a flavour concentrate that became both a brand and generic name in the province for chocolate milk. Discontinued in 1995. Purists insist chocolate milk since has never been the same.

Upon other research I found out that initially Vi-Co was an American brand name and was being imported, but a couple of years after its introduction onto the market, Co-op Dairies purchased the name and began selling Vi-Co in the grocery stores. With the passing of my beloved Vi-Co we are now bombarded with such milk that is strawberry and banana flavoured - gross in my opinion, although I've never tried and probably never will. I'm sure the banana flavoured milk tastes just like the penicillin I used to get as a kid. I'd always try to give it to my brother, he liked the taste of it! And chocolate milks no claim to be milk shakes and some have chocolate bar name brands like Caramilk and Crispy Crunch. Blech!

Give me a Vi-Co any day!