Dr Pepper, one of America’s favourite soft drinks, claims to have been around longer than any other major soft drink. Many consumers are confused as to whether Dr Pepper is produced by Coca-Cola or Pepsi. While some Dr Pepper is bottled in Coke and Pepsi facilities, the brand itself is not owned by any company. Additional details regarding Dr Pepper’s colourful history are provided below.
The Company That Owns Dr. Pepper
Dr Pepper is affiliated with the Keurig Dr Pepper corporation. It is jointly owned by the American firm Mondelez International and the Austrian firm JAB Holdings. Many well-known companies, including Keurig, Cinnabon, Canada Dry, Snapple, and Kahlua, are owned by the same conglomerate.
In terms of sales, Keurig Dr Pepper ranks eighth among American beverage producers. More than 25,000 people are employed at its more than 100 distribution locations.
Things are complicated.
Dr Pepper’s ties to rivals Coke and Pepsi are more complicated than they appear. After Dr Pepper went for bankruptcy in 2008, Coca-Cola made an offer to buy it. That combination was blocked by antitrust regulators. Coke, however, does have distribution rights to Dr Pepper in certain regions, including South Korea and Europe.
Some of the foreign Dr Pepper distribution rights are also owned by Pepsi. However, these territories don’t represent significant market potential for Dr Pepper. In addition to its own bottling operations, Dr Pepper contracts with the bottling operations of both Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
Origins of Dr. Pepper
Dr Pepper was first made in 1885. Waco, Texas, druggist Charles Alderton experimented with soda fountain flavours until he developed a winning combination. He was considering giving the blend the name “Waco.” His supervisor, Wade Morrison, came up with a punchier name: Dr Pepper.
The 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair was Dr. Pepper’s first major public appearance. It became a hit. Dr Pepper swiftly grew throughout the country and became a national brand by the 1960s.
The period after “Dr.” was omitted by the corporation in the 1950s. In 1962, the world was introduced to Dietetic Dr Pepper, which the corporation subsequently rebranded as Sugar Free Dr Pepper and finally Diet Dr Pepper. Other varieties followed in following years, including Dr Pepper Cherry and the short-lived Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper.
Was There Actually a Dr. Pepper?
Plenty of people have asked whether Dr Pepper was a genuine person or merely a tale. The
Wade Morrison, according to Dr Pepper, named the company after Charles Pepper, whose daughter he had a crush on.
Is There a Secret Ingredient?
The makers of Dr Pepper insist on keeping their recipe under wraps. However, a recipe appeared in 2009 when a collector in Oklahoma obtained a ledger book at an antique store. Inside the book, the collector uncovered a recipe for “D Peppers Pepsin Bitters.” Dr Pepper said the recipe was for a stomach aid and not for its famous drink. But that didn’t stop the collector from trying to sell the ledger at auction. The book didn’t meet the reserve that the collector established, and it didn’t sell.
To what extent does Dr. Pepper fit the definition of a cola?
Coca-Cola and Pepsi fought Dr Pepper’s expansion into the market for soft drinks for decades. In 1963, a federal judge saved Dr. Pepper from being labelled as a cola by determining that its flavour was too unique to be classified as one. The verdict was crucial to the success of Dr Pepper across the country.
However, Dr Pepper’s attempts to sell the drink as something people would enjoy hot were not successful. Dr Pepper tried to promote a recipe in which heated Dr Pepper was mixed with lemon juice in the 1960s. It was unsuccessful, and Dr. Pepper is still associated with the summer season.
