Nesbitt's Orange Soda

Nesbitt's Orange Soda

Nesbitt's Orange Soda

Nesbitt's was a popular brand of orange-flavored soda in the United States for a large part of the 20th century. Nesbitt's was produced and distributed by the Nesbitt Fruit Products Company of Los Angeles, CA. Nesbitt's also produced other flavors of soda under the Nesbitt's and other brands, but none were as popular as the orange variety.

History

Hugh S. Nesbitt founded Nesbitt's Fruit Products Company in 1924 and debuted the Nesbitt's brand in 1927. The company originally produced soda-fountain products and began bottling Nesbitt's Orange in 1938. Featuring advertisements by a then-unknown Marilyn Monroe and proclaiming itself to be the "largest selling bottled orange drink in the world", Nesbitt's had become the US market leader of orange soda by the late 1940s, edging out established market leader Orange Crush. Nesbitt's Orange Soda continued to dominate the market until the 1960s, where it was overtaken by Fanta and faded in popularity. The company was sold to The Clorox Company in 1972 and the bottling operation was sold to Moxie Industries, Inc. (now Monarch Beverage) of Atlanta in 1975.

Current Status

Moxie Industries continued to own Nesbitt's through the 1980s while use of the brand was passed along to several companies from 1976 through 1998 for non-bottling usage. Big Red Ltd, of Waco, TX, bought the trademark Monarch Beverage in 1999. Big Red, Ltd only actively promotes its Nesbitt's California Honey Lemonade product, although it licenses the brand to several small independent bottling companies. Nesbitt's Orange Soda is still available today in select regional markets and is produced by two companies: Orca Beverage, Inc, and Beverages Direct.

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