RC Cola

, the inventor of Royal Crown Cola The Cole-Hampton-Hatcher Grocery Store was established in Columbus, Georgia in 1901. The Hatcher family took sole ownership and the name was changed to the Hatcher Grocery Store in 1903. The grocery store was located at what was 22 West 10th Street. Today's address (after house number changes) is 15 West 10th Street. At the 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 the company deserved a special reduced price for the syrup since it purchased such large volumes. 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 was determined to develop his own soft drink formula. He started developing products in the basement of the store with a recipe for ginger ale. Hatcher launched the Union Bottling Works in his family's grocery store. 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. Cherry-flavored Chero-Cola was introduced in 1907. The company was later renamed Chero-Cola in 1912. Its new fruit-flavored beverage, Nehi was introduced in 1924, and the company renamed to Nehi Corporation in 1928. Founder Claud A. Hatcher died in 1933 and Chero-Cola was reformulated in 1934 by chemist Rufus Kamm. Royal Crown Cola and Moon Pies were a popular "working man's lunch" in the American South in the 1950s. Royal Crown was the first company to sell soft drinks in a tin can in 1954, and later the first company to sell soft drinks in an aluminum can. The company introduced the Diet Rite brand of dietetic beverages in 1954, with the cola variety being its flagship, however the product was dropped in 1969 after the sweetener cyclamate was banned. At the time it was the best selling diet soda, and accounted for about 25 per cent of Royal Crown sales and 30 per cent of its earnings. The product was reintroduced with a new formula and an advertising campaign designed to make people ask for Diet Rite because of its flavor instead of its lack of calories. The drink had climbed back to about 20 per cent if sales by 1971. Royal Crown Cola Company developed their international presence during the 1970s, including countries in Asia and Europe. This included giving Tizer a licence to produce the drink within the United Kingdom. The Raffel family sold Arby's to the Royal Crown Cola Company for $18 million in 1976. Caffeine- and sugar-free cola RC 100 was launched in April 1980. RC Cola accounted for approximately 4–5% of soft drink sales in the United States, behind Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, and 7 Up in 1984. Cherry RC would be introduced in July 1985, with Diet RC and its caffeine-free counterpart being announced that December, to debut in January 1986. Royal Crown Draft Cola was released as the first premium draft cola in 1995. It was made with pure cane sugar as a sweetener (instead of high fructose corn syrup), the finest kola nuts, all-natural flavors and pure filtered water. Offered only in 12-ounce bottles, it was discontinued, due largely to the inability of the RC bottling network to get distribution for the product in single-drink channels, and it was discontinued with the exceptions of Australia, New Zealand, and France. It was later available only in New Zealand, parts of Australia, Thailand, and Tajikistan. The company also released Cherry RC, a cherry-flavored version of the RC soft drink to compete with Cherry Coke and Wild Cherry Pepsi. ==Ownership changes==