- Double Cola
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Double Cola is the name of a soft drink and the company that manufactures Double Cola.
Contents
Company
The Double Cola Company Type Private Whole Owned Subsidiary Industry Beverage Founded 1922 Founder(s) Charles D. Little
Joe S. Foster[1]Headquarters Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States Products Double-Cola
Ski[2]
Cherry Ski
Jumbo fruit flavors line
Double-Dry Ginger Ale[3]Revenue $21.1 million (2003)[1] Employees 20 (2003)[1] Parent K.J. International, Inc.[1][4] Website DoubleCola.com[1] The Double Cola Company is headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee.[1]
History
The company was originally founded in 1922 by former Chero-Cola employees Charles D. Little and Joe S. Foster as Good Grape Company, primarily to market "Good Grape". With Little's creation of Marvel Cola in 1924, Good Grape Company changed its name to Seminole Flavor Company. Marvel Cola was reformulated and renamed Jumbo Cola. The Double Cola product was developed in 1933 and soon became the company's flagship product. It was soon followed by flavored Double-Orange, Double-Lemon, and Double-Grape and "Double-Dry" ginger ale.[1] During the 1930s, the vending machine market started to take off. Little had Westinghouse develop one which performed poorly in a key market for Seminole. Little basically pulled out of the vending market by not putting any more money into vending machines. Additionally, during World War II's sugar rationing, Seminole continued bottling Double-Cola in the larger bottles which hurt production. PepsiCo was in the same position and Little had a chance to buy them and refused as he preferred just going forward with the cola Seminole had. While Pepsi escaped bankruptcy and moved ahead of Seminole, Little changed the company's name to Double Cola Company in 1953.[4] In 1956, the company developed Ski, which is comparable to Sun Drop.[2][4] The year Diet Double Cola was launched, 1962, Little sold the company to Fairfield Foods, who drained the company of resources. It was purchased in 1980 by K.J. International, Inc., of London, England, from Canadian firm Pop Shops International, which acquired it from a consortium of private investors and remains wholly privately held. Pop Shops had allowed the company to flounder as they focused on their existing brands.[1]
Cola
Double Cola 
Type soft drink Manufacturer Double Cola Company Country of origin 
United StatesIntroduced 1933 Variants Ski, Jumbo Orange, Jumbo Grape Double Cola is a regionally manufactured U.S. brand of soft drink, predominantly distributed east of the Mississippi River, and available in select international markets.
Marketing
It was formerly available in a somewhat-wider area of the South. Yet Double Cola is a distinctive part of culture in Southern Indiana, especially around Evansville (e.g. Double Cola Fields). It was once marketed as a lower-cost alternative to Coca-Cola and other soft drinks, but Double Cola is now marketed as a premium brand in that area, with the same or higher price than Coca-Cola or Pepsi-Cola.[citation needed] The company hopes to continue re-entry in all of its former U.S. markets, and expand into the Midwest, in the near future.[citation needed] Diet versions of both Double Cola and Ski have been developed in recent years, as has Cherry Ski, which tastes like Mountain Dew Code Red and was developed several years before.
The "Jumbo" line of fruit-flavored drinks has been expanded to include peach, strawberry, pineapple, fruit punch, root beer, and blue creme soda. Some of these drinks are available only in very limited areas.
Speculation that expansion to Middle Eastern markets was at least in part a chance to exploit the company's low profile and consequent lack of political connotations now inherent in the Coke–Pepsi struggle. Though the Double Cola company's international sales are not as large as Coke or Pepsi, their presence in South Asia, South America, the Middle East and consumption in 17 nations comprises their international market. Their two other brands, Oranta orange drink and Chaser lemon-lime drink, are available only in the international markets, and represent the extent of the international product line other than Double Cola itself.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Double-Cola Co.-USA -- Company History". Funding Universe.com. 2003. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/DoubleCola-CoUSA-Company-History.html. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
- ^ a b Fred Sauceman. "Ski: Lake weekend led to soft drink’s name". GoTriCities. http://www.gotricities.com/content/article.dna?idnumber=4757. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
- ^ Joyce M. Wolburg (2003). "Double-Cola and Antitrust Issues: Staying Alive in the Soft Drink Wars.". Journal of Consumer Affairs 37. http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=LvTPYbzYghnjc2SD9XzLpFwF5TlJ213QPBVTW6G7Rxf2QHkS70Jp!-16014412?docId=5002580357. Retrieved 2008-06-26.
- ^ a b c Jeffrey Covell (1999). "Double-Cola Co.-USA". International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 70. Findarticles.com. pp. 1–5. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5202/is_1999/ai_n19122795. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
External links
- Double Cola official website
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- Citrus sodas
- 1922 introductions
- Companies based in Chattanooga, Tennessee
- American soft drinks
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