-   Only 9% will attend special events; one-third will celebrate Canada
        Day with family or friends

    -   Two-thirds of Canadian root beer drinkers prefer A&WVANCOUVER, June 27 /CNW/ - While only nine per cent of Canadians will
attend a formal Canada Day celebration, another third will spend our national
holiday kicking off the summer in a more relaxed and informal setting with
family or friends, according to a survey released today by A&W Food Services
of Canada.
    The survey(1) conducted by Ipsos Reid for A&W Food Services of Canada
this June asked Canadians how they planned to celebrate Canada's 140th
birthday.
    The Ipsos Reid survey also found that A&W Root Beer is the root beer of
choice for Canadians, with a large majority of Canadian root beer drinkers
choosing A&W Root Beer to quench their thirst on Canada Day and throughout the
summer compared with other brands of root beer.
    Canada Day plans vary for respondents across the country. In three
provinces, more than half of respondents had special plans to celebrate Canada
Day (Manitoba, 57 per cent; Alberta, 55 per cent; and Ontario, 54 per cent).
In Atlantic Canada, 50 per cent of respondents had special plans. In the rest
of the country, fewer than half of respondents had special plans for the
holiday (British Columbia, 49 per cent; Saskatchewan, 49 per cent; and Quebec,
30 per cent).
    Canadians with children also have somewhat different Canada Days from
Canadians without children. Approximately 56 per cent of respondents with
children have special plans for Canada Day, while 44 per cent of respondents
without children have special plans.
    Paul Hollands, A&W's President and Chief Executive Officer, said the
survey found that 67 per cent of root beer drinkers favoured A&W Root Beer.
    "Being named Canada's favourite root beer is a testament to A&W's famed
recipe and the hard work of the A&W team and our partners," said Hollands. "We
take it as the ultimate compliment that two-thirds of Canadian root beer
drinkers will choose A&W Root Beer to help keep them cool as they celebrate
the Canada Day weekend in their own special ways, and throughout the summer."
    Among Boomers(2), 70 per cent of root beer drinkers said they prefer A&W
Root Beer over other popular brands. "Today's Baby Boomers grew up drinking
A&W Root Beer. Boomers have always had a special relationship with A&W and I
am glad to see that we continue to provide our customers with the food and
beverage experience they have come to love and expect over the years," said
Hollands. In June 1919, Roy Allen mixed his first batch of creamy root beer in
Lodi, California. With his growing success, Allen took on a partner, Frank
Wright and, in 1922, the two partners combined their initials - "A" for Allen
and "W" for Wright and formally named the beverage, A&W Root Beer. To this
day, the unique blend of herbs, spices, barks and berries remains a
proprietary secret.
    A&W Root Beer was first introduced to Canada in 1956. In 2006, 29 million
servings of A&W Root Beer were sold in over 660 restaurants across Canada.
This represents about 17 million litres or 4.5 million gallons of root beer.
    From the 1950's through the early 1980's, A&W Root Beer was only
available as a fountain drink at A&W restaurants. Then in 1983, the company
launched the "retail" root beer business and A&W's regular and diet root beer
became available in cans and bottles. Today A&W is Canada's No.1 selling brand
of root beer in the fountain drink and retail markets.

    Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader and the country's
leading provider of public opinion research. With operations in eight cities,
Ipsos Reid employs more than 300 research professionals and support staff in
Canada.

    A&W Food Services of Canada Inc. is 100 per cent Canadian-owned and is
one of the strongest brand names in the Canadian foodservice industry. A&W is
the nation's second largest hamburger restaurant company, by number of
locations, with more than 660 locations coast-to-coast. A&W restaurants
feature famous trade-marked menu items such as The Burger Family®, Chubby
Chicken®, and A&W Root Beer®. For more information, please visit
www.aw.ca.

    ------------------------
    (1) The survey was conducted by Ipsos Reid on behalf of A&W from June 12
    to June 18, 2007. 3,164 Canadians were interviewed through an online
    survey using the Ipsos Reid Canadian Online Omnibus. Results are
    considered accurate to within /-1.7%, 19 times out of 20, of what
    they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been
    polled. The margin of error is larger within regions and for other
    sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to
    ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of
    the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

    (2) The "Boomer" age cohort, defined by stats Canada in the 2001 Census,
    refers to individuals born in 1946 to 1965.