POP shop enterprises CIC. On a mission to: work with people to design heritage inspired solutions to climate change that build wealth and health in our community.

POP is an acronym for the People Of Place

POP shop is the home of Dunoon Goes POP, our social enterprise that blends people, plants and heritage stories to make community crafted soft drinks.

Located in the heart of Dunoon on Hillfoot Street, the POP shop is a Community Interest Company (or CIC). The company and shop was established in 2022, in response to locally focused research exploring the barriers people faced when setting up culturally-led and social enterprises in Dunoon.

It started with George

Place-based research into the history of Dunoon’s high street and the George Stirling soft drinks factory inspired the beginning of Dunoon Goes POP!

In the 1880s, an enterprising pharmacist called George Stirling opened a soft drinks factory in Dunoon behind his shop on Argyll Street. The factory continued to produce and distribute soft drinks in reusable bottles until the late 1970s.

Learn more about George, soft drinks making and our approach to developing a new enterprise inspired by this legacy, by watching the Dunoon Goes POP intro videos.

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POP is shaking things up

We want to bring soft drinks production back to Dunoon in a way that minimises our impact on the planet and maximises our positive impact on the community.

We’ll do this by connecting people to the fascinating heritage and sustainable future of soft drinks-making through practical workshops, growing ingredients and sharing local heritage stories. We also work in partnership with local stakeholders, including Dunoon Community Development Trust, to ensure our work remains relevant and responsive to the needs of local people.

Thanks to funding from National Lottery players, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Lottery Community Fund, and Business Gateway, we are working towards a socially enterprising approach to local soft drinks production.

As we refine our drinks-making process and develop our facilities, we'll create opportunities for other enterprising people who are keen to learn about doing businesses in a sustainable and carbon-conscious way.

Raise a glass with POP

We run drinks experiences, workshops and events so that you can get to know the stories behind our soft drinks, how to make drinks and grow your own ingredients.

Browse events

Visit the POP drinks garden

Rhubarb, apples, lavender and lemons. Our new Dunoon Goes POP garden is filled with flavoursome plants that can be used in drinks making and will inspire you when you attend our events.

Find out more