Nehi

Nehi /ˈniːhaɪ/ (pronounced "knee high") is a flavored soft drink that originated in the United States. It was introduced in 1924 by Chero-Cola/Union Bottle Works. The "Nehi Corporation" name was adopted in 1928 after the Nehi fruit-flavored sodas became popular. In 1955, the company changed its name to Royal Crown Company, after its RC Cola brand. It was founded by Claud A. Hatcher, a Columbus, Georgia grocer, who began bottling ginger ale and root beer in 1905. In April 2008, Nehi became a brand of Dr Pepper Snapple Group in the United States.

The Chero-Cola company added Nehi Cola to its line of sodas in 1924 in order to offer a broader variety of flavors. It offered orange, grape, root beer, peach, and other flavors of soda. Nehi was instantly successful and outsold Chero-Cola entirely. The company changed its name to Nehi Corporation in 1928 and was listed on the New York Curb Exchange. Business went well until 1930 when a major crisis occurred. Reflecting the Great Depression, which followed with the stock market crash of October 1929, Nehi Corporation's sales figures dropped by $1 million in 1930 from a high of $3.7 million in the previous year. Sales continued to decline until 1932, the only year in which the company had ever lost money.

By 1933, the low point had been passed, and the business was just beginning to stabilize when another tragedy struck. Claud A. Hatcher, the company's president and guiding light from its formation, died suddenly December 31, 1933. Hatcher was soon replaced by H. R. Mott, vice president of the Nehi Corporation for several years beforehand, and who had been associated with the company since 1920. As the new president, he was greeted with a great amount of debt. His all-consuming ambition, however, was to make the company debt-free as quickly as possible and to keep it that way. He updated operations, obtained extensions of credit, and cut expenses. Within a year, the Nehi Corporation was debt-free and ready to move ahead once more.

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