Gatorade is a brand of flavored non-carbonated sports drinks manufactured by the Quaker Oats Company, now a division of PepsiCo. Intended for consumption during physically active occasions, Gatorade beverages are formulated to rehydrate and replenish fluid, carbohydrates and electrolytes. Robert Cade, Dana Shires, Harry James Free, and Alejandro de Quesada were the medical researchers at the University of Florida who created the original Gatorade thirst quencher in 1965.

The Gators football coach, Ray Graves, was frustrated with the performance of his players during the hot summer football practices, and asked the team doctor, one of Cade?s associates, for his insight. Cade and his research team came across the unique mix of water, sodium, sugar, potassium, phosphate, and lemon juice that is now known as Gatorade in honor of the football team, the Gators. The football team credited Gatorade with their first Orange Bowl win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in 1967, and the drink became an instant phenomenon.

The Yellow Jackets coach Bud Carson, when asked why they lost, replied: "We didn?t have Gatorade. That made the difference." Shortly after, Cade partnered with Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. (S-VC) to produce and distribute the product.

A year after its commercial introduction, Gatorade was reformulated to remove the sweetener cyclamate, which was banned by the FDA. The Quaker Oats Company bought S-VC in 1983, after a bidding war with rival Pillsbury. Quaker licensed manufacturing of Gatorade in some worldwide markets to PepsiCo, but sued Pepsi in Australia in 1998, alleging Pepsi had misappropriated Gatorade trade secrets to manufacture its own sports drink, All Sport.

Quaker won the Australian case. In the meantime, the University of Florida has received royalties for Gatorade each year, since their settlement with Cade in 1973.

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