Grapico is a caffeine-free, artificially flavored carbonated soft drink with a purple color and a grape taste that is sold in the Southeastern United States. When introduced in 1916, the product quickly became a success, which in part was due to implying that Grapico contained real grape juice even though it does not. In the spring of 1926, J. Grossman's Sons sold the Grapico business to the Pan American Manufacturing Company in New Orleans. Pan American continued J. Grossman's Sons' improper practice of implying that Grapico contained real grape juice and lost the right to use the word "Grapico" to designate their artificial grape drink in 1929.
Although the J. Grossman's Sons line of the brand had ended, the Grapico brand continued on through Alabama businessman R. R. Rochell and his Birmingham, Alabama–based Grapico Bottling Works. R. R. Rochell had first become a wholesale syrup customer of J. Grossman's Sons in the summer of 1917 to serve the Alabama soft drink market. By the time Pan American had lost their artificial grape drink name in 1929, Rochell was selling bottled Grapico in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Rochell received the federal trademark on Grapico in 1940, giving his Grapico Company of America the right to use the name "Grapico" everywhere in the United States. In 1955, Grapico Company of America attempted to expand its fruit-flavored brands with Orangico, a sister product to Grapico that included real orange juice. The orange juice-based Orangico did not sell well and the federal trademark eventually expired. In September 1981, both the franchising rights to the Grapico brand name and The Pepsi Bottling Group in Newnan, Georgia, were acquired by Buffalo Rock, an independent Pepsi bottler based in Birmingham, Alabama. Buffalo Rock revived the Orangico trademark in 1999 for an artificially flavored orange drink and introduced Diet Grapico in 2005. Grapico is now produced at Buffalo Rock's Birmingham, Alabama bottling facility.
History Grapico was first sold in 1914 in New Orleans, Louisiana, by J. Grossman's Sons. In the summer of 1917, businessman R. R. Rochell and his Birmingham, Alabama–based Grapico Bottling Works purchased Grapico syrup barrels from J. Grossman's Sons and bottled and sold Grapico to the Alabama soft drink market, becoming the first bottler to buy the syrup wholesale. Present Grapico distributor Buffalo Rock, an independent Pepsi bottler based in Birmingham, Alabama, purchased the Grapico business in 1981. The J. Grossman's Sons' Grapico retail sales line ended in 1929 and the present Grapico traces its roots to the summer of 1917 in Birmingham, Alabama through R. R. Rochell's Grapico.
J. Grossman's Sons' Grapico
J. Grossman's Sons was a business that had been operating in New Orleans, Louisiana, since at least 1884.Breaux, Chief Justice Joseph Arsenne. (May 22, 1905.) Louisiana Supreme Court J. Grossman's Sons v. John B. Sanders, sheriff. 114 La. 958, 38 So. 692 (No. 15,525). (Quote, "Plaintiffs are judgment creditors of Charles F. Kramer, the father just referred to, in the sum of $249.80. This judgment was obtained in 1884, and was revived in 1894 and duly recorded.") By the early 1900s, the business was being run by both Adolph Grossman and Isidore Grossman.Monroe, Frank A. (March 16, 1908) Louisiana Supreme Court Josephson v. Powers. 121 La. 28, 46 So. 44 Prior to developing Grapico, J. Grossman's Sons served as creditors. In 1905 for example, a collection attorney successfully sued J. Grossman's Sons to recover legal fees for reducing to judgment a debt of $875 owed to J. Grossman's Sons.DuFour, J. (April 3, 1905) Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals of Louisiana, Parish of Orleans. Hiddleston Kenner v. J. Grossman's Sons. 2 Teiss. 209, 2 Orleans App. 209 (No. 3665) Rehearing refused Apr. 19, 1905. Also in 1905, J. Grossman's Sons unsuccessfully prevented the sale of their securing collateral, a debtor's home, to the debtor's daughter. In January 1912, J. Grossman's Sons lent $1000 to a Lewisburg, Louisiana, saloon owner who they successfully sued eleven months later to recover the amount against his real estate.Provosty, Chief Justice Olivier. (February 8, 1915) Louisiana Supreme Court J. Grossman's Sons v. Chachere. 136 La. 666, 67 So. 545 (No. 20727).
J. Grossman's Sons began manufacturing Grapico in 1914.Hornibrook, E. J. (July 5, 1929) Federal Trade Commission In re Pan-American Mfg. Co., Inc. Page 87. At that time, Grapico consisted of a syrup that, when mixed with soda water, had the taste, smell, and color of a genuine grape drink.Hornibrook, E. J. (July 5, 1929) Federal Trade Commission In re Pan-American Mfg. Co., Inc. Page 84. The product was artificially colored and flavored with only an infinitesimal amount of grape juice or fruit of the grape.
Prior to 1916, J. Grossman's Sons contacted American jazz composers Peter DeRose and Ivan Reid to write a song about Grapico.Charles H. Templeton, Sr. Music Museum. (March 25, 2008) Mitchell Memorial Library Accessed July 21, 2008. DeRose, who would later be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, produced the piano accompanied song, Meet Me in the Land of Grapico. Meet Me in the Land of Grapico is a sentimental ballad from Tin Pan Alley that imagined a faraway Land of Grapico where love lives forever. The song (see below) and its cover sheet alluded to a grape vine-covered arbor in the Land of Grapico, even though Grapico contained no grape juice. Dedicating the song to all the drinkers of Grapico,J. Grossman's Sons. (1916) Page 1 of Meet Me in the Land of Grapico. (header quote, "Dedicated to all drinkers of Grapico.") Accessed June 21, 2008. J. Grossman's Sons published the song in 1916 and provided it free on request.J. Grossman's Sons. (1916) Coversheet to Meet Me in the Land of Grapico. (quote, "Copy sent free on application to J. Grossman's Sons.") Accessed June 21, 2008.
In the summer of 1917, businessman R. R. Rochell and his Birmingham, Alabama–based Grapico Bottling Works began purchasing Grapico syrup barrels from J. Grossman's Sons to bottle and sell the Alabama soft drink market.United States Trademark Office (2008) Grapico United States Trademark registration certificate. Accessed July 21, 2008. In that same year, Laurel, Mississippi–based Grapico Bottling Company also became a wholesale customer of J. Grossman's Sons and began bottling and selling Grapico in Mississippi.Mississippi Secretary of State Business Services. (2008) Grapico Bottling Company. Business ID: 427804; Name Reservation: 5/19/1914; Amendment: 8/11/1922; Admin Dissolution: 5/1/1989. Accessed July 21, 2008. In 1918, Rochell's Grapico Bottling Works opened a bottling plant in Hattiesburg, Mississippi as a second Mississippi bottler and seller of Grapico.Mississippi Secretary of State Business Services. (2008) Grapico Bottling Works. Business ID: 427805; Name Reservation: 6/11/1918. Accessed July 21, 2008.Supreme Court of Mississippi, Division A. (November 3, 1924) Margiotta v. J. Grossman's Sons, Inc. 101 So. 715 (No. 24388) (Case establishing that J. Grossman's Sons was operating in Mississippi and operating as Grapico Bottling Works.)
By 1919, Grapico manufacturer J. Grossman's Sons was successful enough in their efforts to distribute Grapico that they awarded the Grapico advertising account to the Chambers Agency, Inc. of New Orleans.Printers' Ink (July 3, 1919) Has "Grapico" Account v.108 1919 Jul-Sep. Page 12. Publisher: Decker Communications. ("The magazine of marketing/communications management.") As early as November 1919, businessman J. C. Kramer was doing business in Louisiana under the name of the Grapico Bottling Works (Louisiana),Overton, Winston. (May 23, 1927) Louisiana Supreme Court Grapico Bottling Works v. Liquid Carbonic Co. 163 La. 1057, 113 So. 454 (No. 26511) **Precedent in Louisiana. a business unconnected with Rochell's Grapico Bottling Works.NOTE: Even though they had similar names, there was no connection between Kramer's Grapico Bottling Works (Louisiana - 1919) and Rochell's Grapico Bottling Works (Alabama - 1917).
In 1920, the demand for soft drinks significantly increased as a result of the prohibition against alcohol in the United States that began on January 29, 1920.Drown, Kathleen Morgan; Huber, Patrick. (2004) The 1920s. Page 139. Greenwood Publishing . The Grapico product was so successful by 1920, that Grapico specifically was listed in the Louisiana law among generic items, Coca-Cola, and RC Cola as items to be taxed: Section 22 of Act No. 233 of 1920, which read:That all persons, associations of persons, firms and corporations engaged in the sale of soda water, ice cream, confections, soda pop, Coca Cola, Chero-Cola, Grapico or other similar soft drinks or beverages or refreshments, shall pay license based on the gross annual sales, and such licenses are hereby fixed and graded as follows.Higgins, Judge. (February 26, 1934) Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals of Louisiana, Parish of Orleans. State v. Louisiana Baking Corp. 153 So. 41 (No. 14723). In addition to experiencing taxes as a result of its success, the Grapico efforts found labor troubles. In 1920, the International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, Soft Drink and Distillery Workers presented Grapico Bottling Company (Mississippi) with a union agreement.Proceedings [of The] Convention by International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, Soft Drink, and Distillery Workers of America, Dominion Educational Association (Canada) - Labor unions (1920) Grapico Bottling Co. Page 28. When the company refused to sign the agreement, the 112 employees at Grapico Bottling Company were called to strike. The Grapico Bottling Co. eventually signed the agreement.
In June 1922, Grapico Bottling Works furthered the connection between the artificially flavored beverage and real grape juice through an advertisement campaign.The Jacksonville Metropolis (June 1, 1922) Grapico Bottling Works advertisement. Accessed July 21, 2008. On June 1, 1922, The Jacksonville Metropolis published a Grapico Bottling Works advertisement announcing a ten-day writing contest that offered US$116 in prize money for essays on why a consumer would prefer "Sparkling Grapico" over real, fresh grapes. The advertisement indicated that Grapico was made from Pure Grape Juice with pure sugar and carbonated water and had no coloring or preservatives. Although not true, this information was consistent with the Grapico product labels used by J. Grossman's Sons on the barrels that were shipped to and received by R. R. Rochell.Hornibrook, E. J. (July 5, 1929) Federal Trade Commission In re Pan-American Mfg. Co., Inc. Page 88.
Mississippi based Grapico Bottling Company troubles did not end with its union problems. In September 1924, John Henry Ennis of Ellisville, Mississippi, purchased a Grapico.Ethridge, George Hamilton (November 30, 1925) Supreme Court of Mississippi Grapico Bottling Co. v. Ennis. No. 25015. 140 Miss. 502, 106 So. 97, 44 A.L.R. 124. (Suggestion of Error Overruled Dec. 7, 1925.) On drinking it, Ennis discovered that the contents were filled with flies, some of which he swallowed and became sick. On filing a lawsuit against Grapico Bottling Company and its sole stockholder, Philip Carriere, Ennis learned that Grapico Bottling Company had filed for and successfully dissolved itself as a corporation between the time Ennis consumed the flies and filed suit against Grapico Bottling. On appeal, the Supreme Court of Mississippi issued an opinion that serve as precedent in Mississippi for the rule that a stockholder of a corporation is not liable for the debts, liabilities, and other acts of the corporation. After Grapico Bottling Company (Mississippi) dissolved in 1925, Rochell's Grapico Bottling Works became the sole supplier of Grapico to Mississippi.
Unfair competition through deceptive advertising