 Brewer/bottler #393 | | | | Address | 509 Main Street
Use for all Nehi, Par-T-Pak, Upper 10, Chero-Cola, Kick, Rums Dry and Royal Crown Products of the time period, 1928-1955, when local bottler is not known |
| | | | | | | | Extra info | In 1901, the Cole-Hampton-Hatcher Grocery Store was established in Columbus, Georgia. In 1903 the Hatcher family took sole ownership and the name was changed to the Hatcher Grocery Store. The grocery store was located near the corner of Tenth St. and Front Ave. At that same time, the popularity of bottled soft drinks rose rapidly, and grocery store owners wished to maximize their profit. As a grocery wholesaler, Claud A. Hatcher purchased a large volume of Coca-Cola syrup from the local company salesman, Columbus Roberts. Hatcher felt that Hatcher Grocery Co. deserved a special reduced price for the syrup since it purchased such large volumes. Mr. Roberts would not budge on the cost, and a bitter conflict between the two erupted. Hatcher told Roberts he would win the battle by never purchasing any more Coca-Cola, and Hatcher determined to develop his own soft drink formula. Thus, he went to the basement of the grocery store to find his cola. Instead, he developed a recipe for ginger ale.
The enterprise was originally called the Union Bottling Works and the first product in the Royal Crown line was Royal Crown Ginger Ale in 1905, followed by Royal Crown Strawberry, and Royal Crown Root Beer. In 1910, the company relocated to a bigger facility in Columbus and introduced the cherry-flavored cola creation, Chero-Cola whch soon the company's greatest-selling product. In 1912, Chero-Cola's popularity lead the Union Bottling Works to change its name to Chero-Cola Company, expanding the enterprise to manufacture a line of syrups and flavor concentrates to sell to franchised bottlers.
When franchising bottling plants began in 1912, the first plants were in the southeast, with additions of about 25 new bottlers each year prior to WWI. The war and economy halted further efforts to expand. By the end of 1921, there were over 200 plants in the organization and by 1925, there were 315 plants in 14 southern states. During 1926 and 1927, additional plants were added, bringing the total to 463.
The Chero-Cola Company added Nehi sodas to its line of products in 1924 in order to offer a broader variety of flavors. It originally offered orange, grape, root beer, peach, and other flavors of soda. Nehi was instantly successful and outsold Chero-Cola entirely. The company changed its name to Nehi Corporation in 1928 and was listed on the New York Curb Exchange. The logo of Nehi was a picture of a woman's leg, in which the skirt was high enough to show the stockings up to the knee, suggesting the phrase "knee-high," to illustrate the correct pronunciation of the company name. In 1934, Chero-Cola was reformulated by Rufus Kamm, a chemist, and re-released as Royal Crown Cola.
In 1955, the company changed its name to Royal Crown Company, after its RC Cola brand. Royal Crown was the first company to sell soft drinks in a can, and later the first company to sell a soft drink in an aluminum can.
In 1958, the company introduced the first diet cola, Diet Rite, and in 1980, a caffeine-free cola, RC 100. In the mid-1990s, RC released Royal Crown Draft Cola, billed as a "premium" cola using pure cane sugar as a sweetener, rather than high fructose corn syrup. Offered only in 12-ounce bottles, sales were disappointing, due largely to the inability of the RC bottling network to get distribution for the product in single-drink channels, and it was quickly discontinued with the exceptions of Australia, New Zealand and France. It is now available only in New Zealand, parts of Australia and Thailand and also Tajikistan in Central Asia. The company also released Cherry RC, a cherry-flavored version of the RC soft drink, to compete with Coca-Cola Cherry and Pepsi Wild Cherry.
In October 2000, Royal Crown was acquired by Cadbury Schweppes plc through its acquisition of Snapple. Royal Crown operations were subsequently folded into Dr Pepper/Seven Up, a former subsidiary of Cadbury Schweppes. In 2001, all international RC-branded businesses were sold to Cott Beverages of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and are operated as Royal Crown Cola International, which handles RC Cola products outside the United States. In the US, distribution is handled by Dr Pepper Snapple Group. |
| | | | | | | Other names used for this Brewer/bottler | | Name 1 | Union Bottling Works |
| | | Name 2 | Chero-Cola Company |
| | | Name 3 | Royal Crown Cola Company |
| | Extra info | 1955-1978 Use for all Nehi, Par-T- Pak, Royal Crown and Diet Rite crowns of this time period, when local bottler not known. |
| | Name 4 | Chero-Cola Bottling Co. (Columbus, GA) |
| | | Name 5 | Royal Crown Bottling Co. (Columbus, GA) |
| | | Name 6 | Nehi Bottling Co. (Columbus, GA) |
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