Big Red is a soft drink created in 1937 by Grover C. Thomsen and R.H. Roark in Waco, Texas [1] and originally known as Sun Tang Red Cream Soda. It is generally classified as an American variety of cream soda and it is the original "red cream soda." The name was changed to "Sun Tang Big Red Cream Soda" in 1959 [2] and to "Big Red" in 1969 [2] by Harold Jansing, then president of the San Antonio bottling plant, after hearing a golf caddy refer to the soda by that name. [3]
A soft drink is a drink that typically contains carbonated water, a sweetener, and a natural or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a sugar substitute, or some combination of these. Soft drinks may also contain caffeine, colorings, preservatives, and/or other ingredients.
Waco is a city in central Texas and is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2010 population of 124,805, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the state. The 2017 US Census population estimate is 136,436 The Waco Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of McLennan and Falls Counties, which had a 2010 population of 234,906. Falls County was added to the Waco MSA in 2013. The 2017 US Census population estimate for the Waco MSA is 268,696.
Cream soda is a sweet carbonated soft drink. Traditionally flavored with vanilla and raspberry and based on the taste of a classic soda, a wide range of variations can be found worldwide.
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Big Red was originally marketed exclusively in Central and South Texas and around Louisville, Kentucky, [4] including parts of Southern Indiana. The Louisville connection was due to Roark owning the R.C. Bottling Company in Louisville and Kentucky was the first state in which this soda was available to consumers. [5] May 16, 2018, was proclaimed "Big Red Day" by Louisville mayor Greg Fischer in recognition of the 80th anniversary of Big Red being sold in that city. [5]
Louisville is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 29th most-populous city in the United States. It is one of two cities in Kentucky designated as first-class, the other being Lexington, the state's second-largest city. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, located in the state's north and on the border with Indiana.
The drink is highly popular in the Southern United States and is well known for its unique taste and red color. [6] Its flavor, though often thought to be bubble gum, is created by mixing orange and lemon oils with the traditional vanilla used in other cream sodas. [1] Big Red is produced and distributed by various independent soft drink bottlers including Keurig Dr Pepper, CCE, and Pepsi Bottling Group under license from Big Red, Inc., based in Austin, Texas.
The southern United States, also known as the American South, Dixie, Dixieland, or simply the South, is a region of the United States of America. It is located between the Atlantic Ocean and the western United States, with the midwestern United States and northeastern United States to its north and the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico to its south.
Bubble gum is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble.
Keurig Dr Pepper, formerly Keurig Green Mountain (2014–2018) and originally Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (1981–2014), is a publicly traded American beverage and beverage-maker conglomerate with dual headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts and Plano, Texas. Its east-coast division sells coffee and other beverages, and Keurig brewers. As of July 2018, the newly merged conglomerate also sells sodas, juices, and other soft drinks via its Dr Pepper Snapple division based in Texas.
Big Red was the sixth-highest selling soft drink company in the United States from 2002–2004, after Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dr Pepper/7Up, Cott and National Beverage Company. [3] [7] As a preeminent red creme soda in the South, it is a staple of many Juneteenth celebrations. [8] [9]
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company. Originally intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton and was bought out by businessman Asa Griggs Candler, whose marketing tactics led Coca-Cola to its dominance of the world soft-drink market throughout the 20th century. The drink's name refers to two of its original ingredients: coca leaves, and kola nuts. The current formula of Coca-Cola remains a trade secret, although a variety of reported recipes and experimental recreations have been published.
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola on August 28, 1898, and then as Pepsi in 1961.
Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. was a Plano, Texas-based soft-drink manufacturing company created by the merger of Dr Pepper, Inc. and The 7 Up Company on May 19, 1986. The merger was a result of the independent bailouts of both companies and the subsequent FTC blockage of a Dr Pepper merger with Coca-Cola. The DPSU merger resulted in the breakup of international branding rights held by the two independent companies.
In 2007 Big Red Ltd. was purchased by Gary Smith, with backing from Citigroup Venture Capital and Goldman Sachs. Gary Smith now serves as the Chairman and CEO of Big Red and All Sport, Inc. In 2008 Keurig Dr Pepper purchased a minority interest in Big Red, Inc. Dr Pepper distributes almost 80% of the product that Big Red sells annually. [10] Although the production facility is still in Waco, Texas, Big Red relocated their corporate headquarters to Austin, Texas in 2009.
Court Square Capital Partners is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions. Court Square was originally a captive private equity firm within Citigroup known as Citigroup Venture Capital Equity Partners. Court Square's investment professionals have invested over $4.5 billion in more than 150 transactions, which have returned $14 billion to date.
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in New York City. It offers services in investment management, securities, asset management, prime brokerage, and securities underwriting.
All Sport is a brand of sports drink, whose competitors include Gatorade and Powerade. It was created by PepsiCo, as their response to The Coca-Cola Company's Powerade and Quaker Oat's Gatorade. After PepsiCo's acquisition of Quaker Oats Company, in 2001, All Sport was sold to The Monarch Beverage Company, of Atlanta, Georgia. In 2007, All Sport was purchased by privately held Big Red, Inc. It is distributed by Keurig Dr Pepper.
