Pepsi Cola "Brads Drink"

Pepsi Cola was invented in 1893 in New Bern, North Carolina by a local pharmacist Caleb Davis Bradham who sold it as a fountain beverage called “Brad’s Drink” in his drugstore. It was renamed Pepsi-Cola in 1898, since it was advertised to relieve indigestion (dyspepsia) and had a “cola” flavor due to use of coca leaf and kola nut.

In 1903, Bradham moved the bottling of Pepsi-Cola from his drugstore to a rented warehouse in New Bern and sold 7,968 gallons of syrup. The next year, Pepsi-Cola was sold in six-ounce bottles, and sales increased to 19,848 gallons

By 1910 the company had over 250 bottlers in twenty-four states, making Bradham wealthy and influential. During World War I sugar shortages caused prices to spike, so he had to buy sugar at inflated prices, then the price of sugar dropped, leading to his bankruptcy. He had to sell the business in 1923 for only $35,000. The company then changed hands four times and went bankrupt again in 1931 during the Great Depression. 

Charles Guth, a candy manufacturer with retail candy stores and soda fountains bought the business.  He needed to replace Coca Cola in his stores' fountains as Coke refused to give him additional discounts on syrup. Under his ownership Pepsi’s fortunes improved, and it now has a worldwide market.

In 1964 Pepsi acquired Mountain Dew, then in 1965 it merged with Frito-Lay, the manufacturer of snack foods to form PepsiCo.  In 1998 the company acquired Tropicana orange juice, and in 2001 it added Quaker Oats to further diversify its product lines.

Today PepsiCo is headquartered in Purchase, New York with annual retail sales of over $98 billion. Not bad for an idea from a small-town druggist in North Carolina.