Royal Crown Cola
 |
|
| Type | Cola |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer |
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Cott Beverages |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Introduced | 1905 |
| Color | Caramel |
| Flavor | Cola, Cola Cherry, Cola Lemon |
| Variants | RC Cola Light RC Cola Diet Rite Cola Cherry RC RC Cola Lemon RC 100 RC Draft Cola RC Cola Edge RC Cola Zero Royal Crown Mixers RC Cola Kick RC Q RC TEN |
| Related products |
Coca-Cola Pepsi |
RC Cola, also known as Royal Crown Cola, is a cola-flavored soft drink developed in 1905 by Claud A. Hatcher, a pharmacist in Columbus, Georgia, United States.
In 1901, the Cole-Hampton-Hatcher Grocery Store was established in Columbus, Georgia. In 1903, the Hatcher family took sole ownership and the name was changed to the Hatcher Grocery Store. 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 that 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 Hatcher Grocery Co. 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 Hatcher determined to develop his own soft drink formula. He started developing products in the basement of the store with a recipe for ginger ale.
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. The company was renamed Chero-Cola in 1910, and in 1925 renamed Nehi Corporation after its colored and flavored drinks. In 1934, Chero-Cola was reformulated by Rufus Kamm, a chemist, and re-released as Royal Crown Cola.
In the 1950s, Royal Crown Cola and moon pies were a popular "working man's lunch" in the American South. In 1954, Royal Crown was the first company to sell soft drinks in a can, and later the first company to sell a soft drink in an aluminum can.
In 1958, the company introduced the first diet cola, Diet Rite, and in 1980, a caffeine-free cola, RC 100. In the mid-1990s, RC released Royal Crown Draft Cola, billed as a "premium" cola using pure cane sugar as a sweetener, rather than high fructose corn syrup. Offered only in 12-ounce bottles, sales were disappointing, due largely to the inability of the RC bottling network to get distribution for the product in single-drink channels, and it was quickly discontinued with the exceptions of Australia, New Zealand and France. It is now 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 Pepsi Wild Cherry.
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