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{{short description|American soft drink company}}
⚫
[[File:Faygo logo.svg|thumb|right|150px|The Faygo logo]]
{{pp-protected|small=yes}}
'''Faygo Beverages, Inc.''' is a [[soft drink]] company headquartered in [[Detroit, Michigan]]. The beverages produced by the company, branded as '''Faygo''' or '''Faygo Pop''', are distributed in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, Central Southern regions of the United States, and southern Canada. Faygo is imported in Europe by American Fizz, an official distributor of Faygo. Faygo Beverages, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the [[National Beverage Corporation]], Started in Detroit, Michigan in 1907, as '''Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works'''.<ref name="Smith">{{cite news |first=Joel |last=Smith |title=''Faygo celebrates 100th birthday'' |url=http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070302/BIZ/703020359/1011/BIZ02 |publisher=''The Detroit News'' |date=March 2, 2007 |accessdate=2008-10-30 }}</ref> As the company expanded, they felt the brand name was too long and changed it to Faygo.<ref>{{cite news|last=Anders|first=Melissa|title=What's in a name? Here are the stories behind Biggby, Zingerman's, Founders, Faygo, Domino's|url=http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/2013/04/whats_in_a_name_here_are_the_s.html#incart_more_business|accessdate=28 April 2013|newspaper=The Flint Journal|date=April 28, 2013}}</ref> The brothers ran the company until the mid-1940s, when they turned it over to their sons.<ref name="Smith" /> In the 1950s, the company created a series of [[radio]] and [[television]] advertisements featuring a fictional cowboy called the Faygo Kid, who was portrayed in animation for television commercials for Faygo Old-Fashioned Root Beer.<ref name="Smith" />
{{Use American English|date = September 2019}}
[[File:Faygo bottling plant and corporate offices Detroit.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Faygo bottling plant and corporate offices, Detroit.]]
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Faygo Beverages, Inc.
| logo = [[File:Faygo logo.svg|200px]]
| logo_caption =
| former_name = Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works
| type = Subsidiary
| industry = Beverages
| fate =
| predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = -->
| successor = <!-- or: | successors = -->
| founded = {{Start date and age|1907|11}} in [[Detroit, Michigan]]
| founders = Ben and Perry Feigenson
| defunct = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| hq_location_city = [[Detroit, Michigan]]
| hq_location_country = US
| area_served = <!-- or: | areas_served = -->
| key_people =
| products = {{ubl|[[Soft drinks]]|[[Energy drinks]]}}
| num_employees =
| num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) -->
| parent = [[National Beverage|National Beverage Corporation]]
| website = {{URL|faygo.com}}
}}


'''Faygo Beverages, Inc.''', is a [[soft drink]] company headquartered in [[Detroit, Michigan]]. The beverages produced by the company, branded as Faygo or Faygo Pop, are distributed in the Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic, and Central Southern regions of the United States, as well as southern and western Canada. Faygo Beverages, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the [[National Beverage|National Beverage Corporation]] started in Detroit, Michigan in 1907 as Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works.<ref name="Smith"/>
⚫
Because the drink had a limited shelf life, Faygo was only sold in Michigan until the late 1950s. Company chemists later resolved this issue by installing a filtration system to remove impurities from the manufacturing plant's water.<ref name="Smith"/> In the 1960s, the soda's regional popularity expanded when the company began advertising during broadcasts of [[Detroit Tigers]] games.<ref name="Smith"/> Commercials produced in the 1970s featured "everyday people" on the [[Boblo Island Amusement Park|Boblo Boat]] singing the "Faygo Boat Song".<ref name="Smith"/> Tree Sweet Products Corp. sold the company to National Beverage Corp. in 1987.<ref name="FU">{{cite web |url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/National-Beverage-Corp-Company-History.html |title= National Beverage Corp. Company History |accessdate=2008-07-17 |work=Funding Universe Company Profiles |publisher=Funding Universe |date= }}</ref> In 2007, Faygo celebrated its 100th anniversary.<ref name="Smith"/>


[[File:Faygo Cotton Candy Soda.jpg|thumb|The [[Cotton candy]] flavored Faygo soda.]]
⚫
Faygo brands received some high praise from the culinary industry when it was announced that the September 2009 issue of [[Bon Appétit]] magazine ranked Faygo Root Beer as the best tasting American root beer, describing it as "dry and crisp, with a frothy head, a good bite and a long finish".<ref>{{cite journal |date=September 2009 |title=root beer |trans_title= |journal=[[Bon Appétit]] |volume=54 |issue=9 |pages=26 | url=http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2009/09/top_root_beers }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=What's going on: Faygo Root Beer ranked No. 1|url=http://www.freep.com/article/20090828/FEATURES01/908280479/-1/rss07|accessdate=23 April 2012|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=August 28, 2009|author=Sylvia Rector|author2=Nancy Chipman Powers|archiveurl=http://www.motownsports.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-75694.html|archivedate=09-01-2009}}</ref>


==History==
⚫
== In popular culture ==
⚫
[[File:Faygo logo.png|150px|thumb|left|The original logo used circa 1940]]
Faygo is often talked about by the [[horrorcore]] group [[Insane Clown Posse]], who reference Faygo in several of their songs.<ref name="Dominic">{{cite news |first=Serene |last=Dominic |title=''(Not) just a juggalo'' |url=http://www.metrotimes.com/music/story.asp?id=13394 |publisher=''[[Metro Times]]'' |date=October 29, 2008 |accessdate=2008-10-30 }}</ref><ref name="Brant">{{cite book |last=Brant |first=Marley |title=Tales from the Rock 'n' Roll Highway |year=2004 |publisher=Billboard Books |isbn=0-8230-8437-X |pages=43–52 }}</ref> Positive audience reaction to an early concert performance in which [[Joseph Bruce|Violent J]] threw an open bottle at a row of hecklers resulted in the group continuing to spray their audiences with the drink.<ref name="Brant"/> This practice was repeated and then developed into the [[Juggalo]] culture's "Faygo Showers".{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}
Faygo was founded in Detroit, Michigan, in November 1907,<ref name="idch">{{cite book |title=International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 36. |date=2001 |publisher=St. James Press |via=Funding Universe |chapter-url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/faygo-beverages-inc-history/ |access-date=November 20, 2019 |chapter=History of Faygo Beverages Inc. |archive-date=November 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106035156/http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/faygo-beverages-inc-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> as '''Feigenson Brothers Bottle Works''' by Russian baker immigrants Ben and Perry Feigenson.<ref name="Smith">{{cite news |first=Joel J. |last=Smith |title=Faygo celebrates 100th birthday |url=http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070302/BIZ/703020359/1011/BIZ02 |website=[[The Detroit News]] |date=March 2, 2007 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130121105107/http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070302/BIZ/703020359/1011/BIZ02 |archivedate=January 21, 2013 |access-date=2008-10-30 }}</ref> The original flavors of Faygo (fruit punch, strawberry, and grape) were based on cake [[Icing (food)|frosting]] recipes used by the Feigensons in Russia.<ref name="Smith"/> Initially, the brothers used a horse-drawn wagon for deliveries and lived above the bottling plant.<ref name="idch"/>


As the business grew over the next 10 years, the Feigensons were able to purchase houses, hire their first employee, and acquire a second wagon and horse for deliveries. More flavors were added to the lineup, including [[Sarsaparilla (soft drink)|Sassafras Soda]] and Lithiated Lemon. The brothers' success also allowed them to build a new plant on Detroit's Beaubien Street.<ref name="idch"/>
Faygo was referenced in the song "Street Dreams" by rapper [[Machine Gun Kelly (rapper)|Machine Gun Kelly]] on his 2013 album [[Black Flag (mixtape)|Black Flag]].{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}


In 1921, as the company expanded, they decided the brand name "Feigenson Brothers" was too long and changed it to Faygo.<ref name="idch"/><ref>{{cite news |last = Anders |first = Melissa |title = What's in a name? Here are the stories behind Biggby, Zingerman's, Founders, Faygo, Domino's |url = https://www.mlive.com/business/2013/04/whats_in_a_name_here_are_the_s.html#incart_more_business |access-date = April 28, 2013 |work = [[The Flint Journal]] |date = April 28, 2013 |archive-date = November 11, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211111000152/https://www.mlive.com/business/2013/04/whats_in_a_name_here_are_the_s.html#incart_more_business |url-status = live }}</ref> The brothers bought their first delivery truck in 1922, and started home deliveries the following year.<ref name="Grim">Grimm, Joe, ''The Faygo Book'' (Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 2018), 6-11.</ref> New flavors in the 1920s were a vanilla flavored soft drink, a seltzer water, "Ace Hi" (similar in flavor to [[Nehi]]), and Rock and Rye (named after a [[Rock and Rye|Prohibition Era drink]]).<ref name="Rouch2003">{{cite book|first=Lawrence L. | last=Rouch|title=The Vernor's Story: From Gnomes to Now|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-yv2HI_5ZhcC&pg=PA34|year=2003|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=0-472-06697-8|pages=34–}}</ref><ref name="idch"/> The company opened its currently operating bottling plant in 1935 on Gratiot Avenue in Detroit.<ref name="Rouch2003"/> The company briefly entered into beer production.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zadikian |first1=John |url=https://www.pressandguide.com/2019/10/11/faygo-detroit-beverage-maker-remembered-in-storied-history/ |title=Faygo, Detroit beverage maker, remembered in storied history |access-date=November 21, 2019 |work=Press and Guide |date=Oct 11, 2019 |archive-date=July 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705220735/https://www.pressandguide.com/2019/10/11/faygo-detroit-beverage-maker-remembered-in-storied-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In the web-comic [[Homestuck]], a character named Gamzee Makara, known for exhibiting other Juggalo-like traits,<ref name="Hussie_1">{{cite web |first=Andrew |last=Hussie |title=''Homestuck 004718'' |url=http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004718 |publisher=''[[MS Paint Adventures]]'' |date=2010-10-30 |accessdate=2014-04-01 }}</ref> constantly calls Faygo his "Wicked Elixir"<ref name="Hussie_2">{{cite web |first=Andrew |last=Hussie |title=''Homestuck 003913'' |url=http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003913 |publisher=''[[MS Paint Adventures]]'' |date=2010-06-15 |accessdate=2014-04-01 }}</ref> or "Rude Elixir".


The brothers ran the company until the mid-1940s, when they turned it over to their sons.<ref name="Smith"/> In 1956, the company created a series of [[radio]] and [[television]] advertisements featuring a fictional cowboy called the Faygo Kid, who was portrayed in animation for television commercials for Faygo Old-Fashioned Root Beer.<ref name="Smith" /> [[Jim Henson]]'s [[Muppets, Inc.]] produced a small series of ads for Faygo strawberry soda starring the Muppet characters Wilkins and Wontkins (best known as the spokes-characters for the Washington, D.C.–based Wilkins Coffee). Three ads are known to exist.{{cn|date=October 2024}}
[[File:Faygo Moon Mist 3-Liter.JPG|thumb|200px|right|A 3-liter bottle of Faygo Moon Mist]]


[[File:Wilkins_and_Wontkins_reproductions.jpg|thumb|Reproductions built in the Muppets Workshop of the Wilkins and Wontkins muppets]]
==See also==
⚫
Because the drink had a limited shelf life, the company sold its products only in Michigan until the late 1950s. Company chemists later resolved this issue by installing a filtration system to remove impurities from the manufacturing plant's water system.<ref name="Smith"/> In the 1960s, the soda's regional popularity expanded when the company began advertising during broadcasts of [[Detroit Tigers]] games.<ref name="Smith"/> With the Tiger ads reaching beyond the Faygo market area at the time and the inability to cancel the ads, Faygo shipped products to the wholesalers' warehouses. This increased company sales from $6 million in 1966 to $20.4 million in 1971.<ref name="idch" /> Advertisements produced in the 1970s featured "everyday people" on a [[Boblo Island Amusement Park|Boblo Boat]] singing the "Faygo Boat Song".<ref name="Smith"/>
{{Portal|Detroit|Drink|Companies}}

The company introduced a low-calorie version of their products in the 1960s called Ohana.<ref name="Grim"/> This sub-line soon became a majority of company sales. In 1961, the Royal Line was launched as a premium product line. The juice extract used to produce the initial run of Royal Hawaiian Pineapple Orange was not sterilized and became rancid, causing a buildup of gases such that, after hitting store shelves, the bottles exploded. The soda was recalled and Dole gave Faygo enough sterilized juice to offset the company's losses. Six other flavors also entered into production in the 1960s.<ref name="idch" /> The original strawberry flavor from 1907<ref name="Smith"/> was renamed [[Redpop]] in the late 1960s.<ref name="idch"/><ref name="vmng">{{cite news |last1=Bloch |first1=Jim |title=Pop history: Detroit export Faygo turns 107 |url=http://www.voicenews.com/life/pop-history-detroit-export-faygo-turns/article_0b80c4cc-5183-11e9-b7f2-0bbb2f6b8c67.html |access-date=November 21, 2019 |work=The Voice |publisher=MediaNews Group |date=March 28, 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806063830/http://www.voicenews.com/life/pop-history-detroit-export-faygo-turns/article_0b80c4cc-5183-11e9-b7f2-0bbb2f6b8c67.html|archivedate=August 6, 2020}}</ref>

With Michigan's beverage container deposit law passed in 1978, Faygo thought people would prefer returnable cans instead of glass. With this choice being incorrect, the company had a hard time making the switch back to bottles, cutting into profits for several years.<ref name="idch" />

Assessing the industry and the second generation's pending retirement, the company was put up for sale.<ref name="idch" /> TreeSweet Products Corp. bought the company from the Feigenson family in early 1986 for $105 million.<ref name="FP">{{cite news |title = TREESWEET BUYS SOFT-DRINK FIRM |url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-02-19-8601130436-story.html |newspaper = [[Chicago Tribune]] |first1 = George |last1 = Lazarus |date = February 19, 1986 |access-date = November 5, 2019 |archive-date = November 6, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191106125850/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-02-19-8601130436-story.html |url-status = live }}</ref> TreeSweet in turn sold the company to National Beverage Corp. a year later in 1987.<ref name="AP">{{cite news |title = Faygo Sold to National Beverage Corp. |url = https://apnews.com/37c864f8ca0e9f8866afba768771880b |newspaper = [[Associated Press]] |first1 = Tim |last1 = Bovee |date = February 19, 1986 |access-date = November 5, 2019 |archive-date = November 6, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191106035156/https://apnews.com/37c864f8ca0e9f8866afba768771880b |url-status = live }}</ref> In the 1980s, they introduced flavored carbonated water.<ref name="Grim"/>

Faygo expanded in 1996 with a non-carbonated drink line, again named Ohana, which included punches, iced tea and lemonade.<ref name="idch" /> In 2007, Faygo celebrated its 100th anniversary with a new flavor and contests for label design. Ten thousand entries were received and a fourth-grade Ohio teacher won with Centennial Soda.<ref name="Smith"/> In March 2014, the company introduced its ginger ale, Faygo Gold, rivaling cross town company [[Vernors]]' flagship drink.<ref name=mdet>{{cite news |last1=Lacy |first1=Eric |title=Detroit's Faygo unveils new 'Gold' flavor; it appears to rival another popular brand with city ties |url=https://www.mlive.com/business/detroit/2013/03/detroits_faygo_unveils_new_gol.html |access-date=21 November 2019 |work=MLive |publisher=MLive Media Group |date=March 14, 2013 |language=en |archive-date=July 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731100904/https://www.mlive.com/business/detroit/2013/03/detroits_faygo_unveils_new_gol.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Reception==
[[File:Detroit December 2021 31 (Faygo truck).jpg|thumb|A Faygo delivery truck in Detroit]]

⚫
Faygo was ranked the best-tasting American root beer in the September 2009 issue of ''[[Bon Appétit]]'', calling it "dry and crisp, with a frothy head, a good bite and a long finish".<ref name=appetit>{{cite magazine |date = September 2009 |title = root beer |magazine = [[Bon Appétit]] |volume = 54 |issue = 9 |pages = 26 |url = http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2009/09/top_root_beers |access-date = April 23, 2012 |archive-date = July 22, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120722052821/http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2009/09/top_root_beers |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name=freep>{{cite news |title = What's going on: Faygo Root Beer ranked No. 1 |url = http://www.freep.com/article/20090828/FEATURES01/908280479/-1/rss07 |access-date = February 15, 2015 |newspaper = [[Detroit Free Press]] |date = August 28, 2009 |first1 = Sylvia |last1 = Rector |first2 = Nancy Chipman |last2 = Powers |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130702120828/http://www.freep.com/article/20090828/FEATURES01/908280479/-1/rss07 |archive-date = July 2, 2013 }}</ref>

⚫
==In popular culture==
The Detroit [[hip hop]] group [[Insane Clown Posse]] references Faygo in several songs<ref name="Dominic">{{cite news |first = Serene |last = Dominic |title = (Not) just a juggalo |url = https://www.metrotimes.com/music/not-just-a-juggalo-2193463 |work = [[Detroit Metro Times]] |date = October 29, 2008 |access-date = October 30, 2008 |archive-date = May 29, 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230529043812/https://www.metrotimes.com/music/not-just-a-juggalo-2193463 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="Brant">{{cite book |last = Brant |first = Marley |title = Tales from the Rock 'n' Roll Highway |year = 2004 |publisher = Billboard Books |isbn = 0-8230-8437-X |pages = 43–52 }}</ref> and sprays live audiences with "Faygo showers". The band has expressed interest in collaborating on limited edition product runs with the company, but Faygo has not reciprocated this interest as they desire to "keep a healthy distance" from the group.<ref name="Brant"/><ref>{{cite web |last1 = Sunderland |first1 = Mitchell |title = Tears of a Clown: The American Nightmare That Created the Insane Clown Posse |url = https://www.vice.com/en/article/avyde5/tears-of-a-clown-insane-clown-posse-find-hope-after-a-life-of-struggle-and-trauma-456 |website = [[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |access-date = April 30, 2015 |date = April 30, 2015 |archive-date = November 8, 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201108100459/http://www.vice.com/en/article/avyde5/tears-of-a-clown-insane-clown-posse-find-hope-after-a-life-of-struggle-and-trauma-456 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/jewcy-faygo |title=How a Jewish Soda Company Helped the Insane Clown Posse Fight the Nazis |publisher=tabletmag.com |last=Geselowitz |first=Gabriela |access-date=July 19, 2023 |archive-date=July 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230719134646/https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/jewcy-faygo |url-status=live }}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Reflist}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Faygo}}
{{commonscat}}
* {{Official website | http://www.faygo.com/ }}
* {{official website}}


{{Colas}}
{{The Muppets}}
{{Root beer brands}}
{{Insane Clown Posse}}
{{Cream soda brands}}
{{Citrus sodas}}
{{ginger ales}}
{{Grape sodas}}
{{Diet sodas}}


[[Category:American soft drinks]]
[[Category:American soft drinks]]
[[Category:Diet sodas]]
[[Category:Food and drink companies established in 1907]]
[[Category:Companies based in Detroit, Michigan]]
[[Category:Culture of Detroit]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1907]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies based in Detroit]]
[[Category:Grape sodas]]
[[Category:Michigan culture]]
[[Category:Orange sodas]]
[[Category:Drink companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Cream sodas]]
[[Category:Fruit sodas]]
[[Category:Root beer]]
[[Category:Insane Clown Posse]]
[[Category:Ginger ale]]
[[Category:1907 establishments in Michigan]]
[[Category:Lemon-lime sodas]]
[[Category:Food and drink companies based in Michigan]]
[[Category:Pineapple sodas]]
[[Category:Strawberry sodas]]
[[Category:Culture of Detroit, Michigan]]
[[Category:Beverage companies of the United States]]

Latest revision as of 03:55, 18 November 2024

Faygo Beverages, Inc.
FormerlyFeigenson Brothers Bottling Works
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryBeverages
FoundedNovember 1907; 117 years ago (1907-11) in Detroit, Michigan
FoundersBen and Perry Feigenson
Headquarters
Detroit, Michigan
,
US
Products
ParentNational Beverage Corporation
Websitefaygo.com

Faygo Beverages, Inc., is a soft drink company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The beverages produced by the company, branded as Faygo or Faygo Pop, are distributed in the Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic, and Central Southern regions of the United States, as well as southern and western Canada. Faygo Beverages, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Beverage Corporation started in Detroit, Michigan in 1907 as Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works.[1]

The Cotton candy flavored Faygo soda.

History

The original logo used circa 1940

Faygo was founded in Detroit, Michigan, in November 1907,[2] as Feigenson Brothers Bottle Works by Russian baker immigrants Ben and Perry Feigenson.[1] The original flavors of Faygo (fruit punch, strawberry, and grape) were based on cake frosting recipes used by the Feigensons in Russia.[1] Initially, the brothers used a horse-drawn wagon for deliveries and lived above the bottling plant.[2]

As the business grew over the next 10 years, the Feigensons were able to purchase houses, hire their first employee, and acquire a second wagon and horse for deliveries. More flavors were added to the lineup, including Sassafras Soda and Lithiated Lemon. The brothers' success also allowed them to build a new plant on Detroit's Beaubien Street.[2]

In 1921, as the company expanded, they decided the brand name "Feigenson Brothers" was too long and changed it to Faygo.[2][3] The brothers bought their first delivery truck in 1922, and started home deliveries the following year.[4] New flavors in the 1920s were a vanilla flavored soft drink, a seltzer water, "Ace Hi" (similar in flavor to Nehi), and Rock and Rye (named after a Prohibition Era drink).[5][2] The company opened its currently operating bottling plant in 1935 on Gratiot Avenue in Detroit.[5] The company briefly entered into beer production.[6]

The brothers ran the company until the mid-1940s, when they turned it over to their sons.[1] In 1956, the company created a series of radio and television advertisements featuring a fictional cowboy called the Faygo Kid, who was portrayed in animation for television commercials for Faygo Old-Fashioned Root Beer.[1] Jim Henson's Muppets, Inc. produced a small series of ads for Faygo strawberry soda starring the Muppet characters Wilkins and Wontkins (best known as the spokes-characters for the Washington, D.C.–based Wilkins Coffee). Three ads are known to exist.[citation needed]

Reproductions built in the Muppets Workshop of the Wilkins and Wontkins muppets

Because the drink had a limited shelf life, the company sold its products only in Michigan until the late 1950s. Company chemists later resolved this issue by installing a filtration system to remove impurities from the manufacturing plant's water system.[1] In the 1960s, the soda's regional popularity expanded when the company began advertising during broadcasts of Detroit Tigers games.[1] With the Tiger ads reaching beyond the Faygo market area at the time and the inability to cancel the ads, Faygo shipped products to the wholesalers' warehouses. This increased company sales from $6 million in 1966 to $20.4 million in 1971.[2] Advertisements produced in the 1970s featured "everyday people" on a Boblo Boat singing the "Faygo Boat Song".[1]

The company introduced a low-calorie version of their products in the 1960s called Ohana.[4] This sub-line soon became a majority of company sales. In 1961, the Royal Line was launched as a premium product line. The juice extract used to produce the initial run of Royal Hawaiian Pineapple Orange was not sterilized and became rancid, causing a buildup of gases such that, after hitting store shelves, the bottles exploded. The soda was recalled and Dole gave Faygo enough sterilized juice to offset the company's losses. Six other flavors also entered into production in the 1960s.[2] The original strawberry flavor from 1907[1] was renamed Redpop in the late 1960s.[2][7]

With Michigan's beverage container deposit law passed in 1978, Faygo thought people would prefer returnable cans instead of glass. With this choice being incorrect, the company had a hard time making the switch back to bottles, cutting into profits for several years.[2]

Assessing the industry and the second generation's pending retirement, the company was put up for sale.[2] TreeSweet Products Corp. bought the company from the Feigenson family in early 1986 for $105 million.[8] TreeSweet in turn sold the company to National Beverage Corp. a year later in 1987.[9] In the 1980s, they introduced flavored carbonated water.[4]

Faygo expanded in 1996 with a non-carbonated drink line, again named Ohana, which included punches, iced tea and lemonade.[2] In 2007, Faygo celebrated its 100th anniversary with a new flavor and contests for label design. Ten thousand entries were received and a fourth-grade Ohio teacher won with Centennial Soda.[1] In March 2014, the company introduced its ginger ale, Faygo Gold, rivaling cross town company Vernors' flagship drink.[10]

Reception

A Faygo delivery truck in Detroit

Faygo was ranked the best-tasting American root beer in the September 2009 issue of Bon Appétit, calling it "dry and crisp, with a frothy head, a good bite and a long finish".[11][12]

The Detroit hip hop group Insane Clown Posse references Faygo in several songs[13][14] and sprays live audiences with "Faygo showers". The band has expressed interest in collaborating on limited edition product runs with the company, but Faygo has not reciprocated this interest as they desire to "keep a healthy distance" from the group.[14][15][16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Smith, Joel J. (March 2, 2007). "Faygo celebrates 100th birthday". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "History of Faygo Beverages Inc.". International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 36. St. James Press. 2001. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019 – via Funding Universe.
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