Faygo


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 Canada. Faygo is exported to Europe by American Fizz, an official distributor of Faygo. Faygo Beverages, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Beverage Corporation and started in Detroit, Michigan, in 1907 as Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works.
Flavors that are suggested for new products are approved by a committee that meets quarterly, which also remove low sellers off the market. The company's best seller is Red Pop. The company introduced the now industry standard twist-off cap.

History

Faygo was founded in Detroit, Michigan, in November 1907, as Feigenson Brothers Bottle Works by Russian baker immigrants Ben and Perry Feigenson. The original flavors of Faygo were based on cake frosting recipes used by the Feigensons in Russia. Initially, the brothers used a horse drawn wagon for deliveries and lived above the bottling plant.
The business grew over the next ten years. The Feigensons were able to purchase houses, hire their first employee and a second wagon and horse for deliveries. More flavors were added including Sassafras Soda and Lithiated Lemon. They built a new plant due to their success on Beaubien Street in Detroit.
In 1921 as the company expanded, they decided the brand name "Feigenson Brothers" was too long and changed it to Faygo. The brothers bought their first delivery truck in 1922, and started home deliveries the following year. New flavors in the 1920s were a vanilla flavored soft drink, a seltzer water, "Ace Hi", and Rock and Rye. The company opened its currently operating bottling plant in 1935 on Gratiot Avenue in Detroit. The company briefly entered into beer productions.
The brothers ran the company until the mid-1940s, when they turned it over to their sons. 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.
Because the drink had a limited shelf life, the company only sold its products 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. In the 1960s, the soda's regional popularity expanded when the company began advertising during broadcasts of Detroit Tigers games. With the Tiger ads reaching beyond Faygo market area at the time and 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. Advertisements produced in the 1970s featured "everyday people" on a Boblo Boat singing the "Faygo Boat Song". In the 1980s, they introduced flavored carbonated water.
The company introduced a low-calorie version in the 1960s called Ohana. Faygo introduced diet version of its line in the 1960s, this sub-line soon becomes a majority of company sales. In 1961, the Royal Line is launched as a premium product line. The Royal Hawaiian Pineapple Orange initial run's extract 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 were also started into production in the 1960s. The original strawberry flavor from 1907 was renamed in the late 1960s to Redpop.
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.
Assessing the industry and the second generation's pending retirement, the company was put up for sale. TreeSweet Products Corp. bought the company from the Feigenson family in early 1986 for $105 million. TreeSweet in turn sold the company to National Beverage Corp. a year later in 1987. In the 1980s, they introduced flavored carbonated water.
Faygo expanded in 1996 with a non-carbonated drink line, Ohana, which included punches, iced tea and lemonade. 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. In March 2014, the company introduced its ginger ale, Faygo Gold, rivaling cross town company, Vernors's flagship drink.

Reception

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".

In popular culture

The Detroit hip hop group Insane Clown Posse references Faygo in several songs and sprays live audiences with "Faygo Showers".
The 2020 song "Blueberry Faygo" by American rapper Lil Mosey from his second studio album Certified Hitmaker references blueberry, one of the popular flavors of the Faygo drink.