 Brewer/bottler #482 | | | Name | The Grapette Company |
| | Address | Use for Grapette Products (includes Lemonette, Botl-o, Fooks and Sunburst lines) when local bottler unknown. |
| | | | | | | | Extra info | In 1925, Benjamin Tyndle Fooks purchased a service station in the city of Camden. In February, 1926, he sold his service station to purchase a small soft drink bottling plant, thus embarking him on his career in the soft drink industry. Expansion of these activities began in 1927 when Fooks purchased a second bottling plant in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Later, in 1928, he purchased a third plant in Hope, Arkansas. When the crash of 1929 came, young Fooks was forced to curtail his operations. He closed the Hope plant and sold the Arkadelphia plant. Being entirely unfamiliar with the beverage industry when he entered it in 1926, Fooks studied it diligently, reading all he could about it. In 1928 he first began experimenting with with the manufacture of flavors -- all of these being used in his own plants until 1930. It was in 1930 that he established the B. T. Fooks Manufacturing Company which was the predecessor of The Grapette Company, Incorporated. By 1939 "Fooks Flavors" had become widely known throughout the soft drink industry. Of the 150 different types and strengths of soft drink flavors which he manufatured and sold, grape was by far the most popular.
Realizing the potentialities of an outstanding grape drink, Mr. Fooks devoted a great deal of time and research to perfecting such a beverage. After thousands of experimants, he developed the unusually distinctive taste quality of the grape soft drink which is known internationally today as "Grapette". In May, 1940, Grapette was first placed on the market in Camden. It was the beginning of an unusually successful business. In 1950, after ten short years, Grapette has become a most popular grape flavored beverage
To name the drink, Fooks turned to Hubert Owen. Owen and an assistant ran a local contest to come up with a name, but this failed to produce a suitable name. Owen then traveled to Washington, D.C. in 1939 to search the trademark files of the United States Patent Office for a suitable name. Here, it was found that a man named Rube Goldstein owned a trademark for the name "Grapette", "Orangette", and "Lemonette". Further research determined that Goldstein owned a small bottling firm that produced a drink that used one of Fooks' grape flavors, called "Tiny", which it distributed in Virginia and North Carolina, marketed in a six-ounce bottle. Goldstein, however, had never used the Grapette, Orangette, or Lemonette names. In March 1940, Fooks and Owen traveled to Chicago, Illinois to meet with Goldstein. There, they purchased the Grapette, Orangette, and Lemonette names for $500.
During the Depression, business was terrible. The plant and machinery in Arkadelphia was sold, and the warehouse in Hope was closed. Mr. Fooks took to selling "Fooks Flavors" out of his car in Arkansas, Louisiana, and east Texas. In 1932, two salesmen were hired, and sales jumped 7-fold. The flavor business was now solid.
Sales reports showed that grape flavors were the most popular with customers. In 1938, Mr. Fooks began experimenting with the production of the best grape flavor in the world. After a year or two of testing, the special taste that was to make Grapette distinctive was finally achieved. In 1939, Mr. Fooks traveled by rail to Chicago and purchased the copyrighted name of Grapette from the owner of the Sunset Liquor Company. In the spring of 1940, the drink was officially named Grapette and put on the market.
It was an immediate success for several reasons. First, and most important was the unique grape taste of the drink. Also, the bottle used was an innovation. It was very lightweight, six ounces, and clear, which allowed the attractive purple liquid to show through the glass. Grapette was also sold in a 30 bottle case instead of the conventional 24 bottle case.
In 1941, Mr. Francis Brooker was added to the staff as chief chemist. His presence was very important to Grapette. He developed many new flavors, including "Mr." Cola, which was significant to the growth of the corporation. There were no finer products available to bottlers and consumers than those manufactured by the Grapette Company.
When World War II began, Fooks dropped many of his other brands, such as Botl-O and Sunburst, in order to focus on Grapette. Sales of Grapette continued to soar during the war, despite restrictions and material shortages. Sugar, which was subject to wartime rationing, was obtained by adding water to granulated sugar, thus liquefying it, enabling it to be sold as syrup, which was not subject to rationing.
In 1942, R. Paul May, an Arkansas oil tycoon, persuaded Fooks to allow him to market Grapette in Latin America, citing a lack of soft drink options in the area. May was able to build a good reputation for Grapette in Guatemala, selling not only Grapette, but also Orangette and Lemonette. These brands soon became market leaders.
After the war in 1946, the Grapette company remained a closely-held family corporation. In 1947, Orangette, another true-fruit flavored drink, was introduced to the market. In 1948, the company presented another "first" with its famous "Animal" syrups. These were animal shaped glass containers which held syrup to be mixed with water to produce an economical non—carbonated drink for the family. The original 6-ounce bottle eventually gave way to the 7, 8, 10, 12, and 16 ounce returnable bottles. In 1965, a line of 5 flavors, including Grapette, was brought out in 6 ounce frozen concentrate.
Grapette expanded rapidly from 1950 to 1970, dominating the grape market, and reaching almost all areas of the U.S. Consumers were encouraged to enjoy a "big little bottle" of Grapette, whether "thirsty or not." Sound merchandising and advertising principles, plus fine quality products, joined to make the Grapette Company one of the most successful in the soft drink industry during this time. . In 1962, Grapette International was officially established, and in 1972, Mr. May was succeeded by his son-in-law, Mr. Brooks T. Rice. Mr. Rice solidified the business in Latin America, and also expanded the company into Caribbean and Pacific Rim countries. A popular drink abroad, millions of cases of drinks are sold annually. Grapette International has its headquarters in Malvern, Arkansas, only miles from where the story began in Camden.
While Grapette was growing at a rapid pace overseas, domestically it was in decline. The Grapette network had expanded rapidly after World War II to over 300 bottlers in 38 states. When the Fooks family sold Grapette in 1970, this number had declined significantly.
Through a series of acquisitions, the company was named "Flavette" in 1972, and ended up controlled by the Monarch Company, the maker of rival Nu-Grape in 1977. Without proper franchise support, market share tumbled, and Grapette virtually disappeared from the market. By the 90s, Grapette was only being produced in limited areas.
In the meantime, Grapette International continued to successfully sell and market overseas. The company also began selling franchise-quality soft drink flavors derived from the original Grapette Company formulas. These flavors were the logical choice for private label soft drink brands, and introduced Grapette to Wal-Mart.
In the late 80s, Grapette International's chairman, Brooks Rice, met Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart. Without wasting words, Walton told him, "I want Grapette in my stores." Rice explained that although he couldn't provide the use of the brand names in the United States, he could offer the flavors that once made the famous brands. Rice also personally pledged that some day, he would fulfill Walton's request to have Grapette and Orangette in his stores.
Soon, Wal-Mart was using some of the authentic Grapette Company flavor profiles in its Sam's Choice line of signature sodas. These flavors fit perfectly within the Sam's Choice brand, offering innovative, quality products at a better value than the leading national brands. But it always felt like something was missing — specifically, the famous Grapette and Orangette brand names.
In early 2000, Grapette International was able to purchase the U.S. rights to the Grapette and Orangette trademarks, finally reuniting the flavors with their brand names. Now the third generation of founder Paul May's family has given Wal-Mart what Sam Walton requested almost twenty years earlier.
In 2005, Sam's Choice Grapette and Sam's Choice Orangette became available exclusively in Wal-Mart stores nationwide. |
| | | | | | | Other names used for this Brewer/bottler | | Name 1 | B. T. Fooks Manufacturing Company |
| | | Name 2 | Dr. Pepper Bottling Co. (Camden, AR) |
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