Dublin Dr Pepper
Encyclopedia
Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper is a soft drink, marketed as having a unique flavor. The drink was created in the 1880s by Charles Alderton of Waco, Texas and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904 and is now also sold in Europe, Asia, Canada, Mexico, Australia ...
soft drink
Soft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
made by the Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Co. in Dublin, Texas
Dublin, Texas
Dublin is a city located in southwestern Erath County in Central Texas. The population was 3,754 at the time of the 2000 census.The town is the home of the world's oldest Dr Pepper bottling plant...
. Dublin Dr Pepper follows the original recipe, using cane sugar
Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
as the sweetener
Sugar substitute
A sugar substitute is a food additive that duplicates the effect of sugar in taste, usually with less food energy. Some sugar substitutes are natural and some are synthetic. Those that are not natural are, in general, called artificial sweeteners....
as opposed to newer high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). The Dublin plant formula's use of sugar has made it popular among soda fans and resulted in clashes with other bottlers and the parent company of Dr Pepper.
History
Dr Pepper debuted in Waco, TexasWaco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
in 1885. The Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling is the oldest remaining Dr Pepper bottler, producing the beverage continuously since 1891. As the soft drink's first independently owned bottler, owner Sam Houston Prim was given first choice of franchises when franchising of Dr Pepper started in 1925 and, instead of a larger area, chose to formalize existing, smaller territory, which has remained unchanged.
Most of the machinery in the Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling dates to the 1930s and the plant only runs once a month, enough to refill the roughly 2,000 glass bottles that have circulated for decades. Since the 1990s, it has outsourced most of its production to Temple Bottling Co., a larger independent Dr Pepper bottler in Texas about 110 miles to the southeast.
Use of cane sugar
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, almost all American soft drinkSoft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
bottlers switched from cane sugar to HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup) because of a rise in the price of sugar for a number of political reasons. However, the owner of Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company of Dublin, Texas
Dublin, Texas
Dublin is a city located in southwestern Erath County in Central Texas. The population was 3,754 at the time of the 2000 census.The town is the home of the world's oldest Dr Pepper bottling plant...
refused to switch sweeteners, and it remains one of few bottlers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to continue using cane sugar year round. Though the Dublin plant is not the only Dr Pepper bottler to use cane sugar instead of HFCS as a sweetener, the Dublin plant is the most well-known plant to not make the change. Dr Pepper containing cane sugar carries the Imperial Sugar
Imperial Sugar
Imperial Sugar is a major U.S. sugar producer and marketer based in Sugar Land, Texas, with sugar refinery operations in California, Georgia, and Louisiana....
logo and thus the variant became popularly known as "Dublin" Dr Pepper.
In addition to Dr Pepper products, the Dublin plant also produces Sun Crest
Sun Crest
Sun Crest is a brand of flavored carbonated soft drink manufactured by The Dad's Root Beer Company, LLC. of Jasper, Indiana and owned by Hedinger Brands, LLC, except for 6 countries in Asia owned by The Monarch Beverage Company, Inc. of Atlanta...
Orange, Triple XXX, NuGrape
NuGrape
NuGrape is a brand of grape-flavored soda pop. The NuGrape brand was invented in 1906, first bottled in 1921, and by April 1933, The National NuGrape Company was founded in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1922, licensing rights were sold to the Olla Bottling Works in Olla, Louisiana where it was made and...
, and Big Red
Big Red (drink)
Big Red is a soft drink that was created by Grover C. Thomsen and R.H. Roark in Waco, Texas and originally known as Sun Tang Red Cream Soda. It is generally considered to be one of many American varieties of cream soda, and is the original "red cream soda"...
in 910 ounce returnable bottles. To purchase drinks in the 910 ounce returnable bottles, the buyer must first provide their own crate of empty bottles in order to make an exchange.
Sales
As of 2011, the Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Co. had sales of $7 million a year and sells less than 1% of Dr Pepper's annual U.S. volume. The Kloster family owns approximately 90% of the bottler.Operations
The company, having been founded by Sam Houston Prim, was operated by his daughter, Grace Prim Lyon, until her death June 7, 1991. Fill P. "Gill" Kloster, affectionately known as "Mister Dr Pepper" inherited the company from Grace Prim Lyon & operated it until his death September 27, 1999. His grandson, Mark Kloster is now general manager of the family business.Distribution area issues
Franchise agreements limit the Dublin plant's distribution range to a 44-mile radius of Dublin, an area encompassing StephenvilleStephenville, Texas
Stephenville is a city in and the county seat of Erath County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,921 at the 2000 census. Founded in 1856, it is home to Tarleton State University. Stephenville is among several communities that calls itself the "Cowboy Capital of the...
, Tolar
Tolar, Texas
Tolar is a city in Hood County, Texas, United States. The population was 504 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Granbury, Texas Micropolitan Statistical Area.The Texas historian B W Aston is interred at Mount Pleasant Cemetery near Tolar.-Geography:...
, Comanche
Comanche, Texas
Comanche is a city located in Comanche County in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 4,482 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Comanche County. The town square has been renovated and is becoming a popular tourist attraction. With "Star Beaus" and "karens" on the square and their...
and Hico
Hico, Texas
Hico is a small city located in Hamilton County in Central Texas. The population was 1,341 at the 2000 census. The town motto is "Where Everybody Is Somebody!" The county seat is Hamilton some twenty miles to the south on United States Highway 281....
. However, the plant's use of the original sugar recipe had made the plant popular far beyond its existing franchise agreement. Each year, as many as 80,000 visitors flock to Dublin, drawn to the antiquated bottling plant and its old-fashioned soda.
The Soft Drink Interbrand Competition Act of 1980 permits soft drink companies to grant exclusive territorial rights to bottlers. The rise of internet commerce has led to trans-shipments, in which one bottler's soda is sold in another's territory. These sales cause tension between various bottlers.
In June 2011, Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. is an American soft drink company, based in Plano, Texas.It was spun off from Britain's Cadbury Schweppes, on May 5, 2008, with trading in its shares starting on May 7, 2008...
, which owns the brand and licenses territory to Dublin Dr Pepper, sued the Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Co. Dr Pepper Snapple Group, the third-largest U.S. soda company with 2010 revenue of $5.6 billion, accuses the Dublin bottler of trademark dilution
Trademark dilution
Trademark dilution is a trademark law concept giving the owner of a famous trademark standing to forbid others from using that mark in a way that would lessen its uniqueness. In most cases, trademark dilution involves an unauthorized use of another's trademark on products that do not compete with,...
and stealing sales from other Dr Pepper bottlers by selling outside its approved territory. Among the suit's demands are that the bottler remove "Dublin" from its "Dr Pepper" labels and stop selling the soda beyond a 44-mile radius around Dublin.
External links
- The Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company
- Old Doc's Soda Shop
- http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/Dr_Pepper_Sues_Dublin_Bottler_124681419.html
- http://www.scribd.com/doc/62004283/Dublin-Dr-Pepper-Response