I been purchasing Hires Root Beer for some time and now its literally non-existent.

Its one of the oldest root beers in the USA and hails from Philadelphia, where I am from.

Several years ago Dr Pepper / 7up decided slow the production of Hires by enticing bottlers to bottle A&W with kickbacks. This is all to precede with a master plan to phase out Hires.

I have done months of research and I cannot find a bottler anywhere in the USA that still bottles it anymore. I called Dr Pepper / Snapple's corporate offices several times. They tell me its still being produced. I requested a list of where its being bottled and everytime I give them my info they have my local bottler call me with no information except they do not bottle it.

I have wrote a letters to Dr Pepper / 7up and to Cadbury / Shweppes requesting information on where this LICENSED to be bottles and where. I sent both letters certified. Both letters were signed for yet months later I still have no response.

My conclusion is Dr Pepper / Snapple are basically trying to get everyone to forget about so when they stop licensing to bottle it, no one is supposed to notice. Then they can focus on their A&W Brand, which is significantly different.

So my question is, at what point are we going to stop allowing these soda giants to do this to us. They bought Hires on purpose to phase it out. Now how do we bring this to light. Should or can we do anything about it?

Dr Pepper / Snapple will not allow me to have any access whatsoever to any corporate execs to ask them to make a motion to start producing more Hires. So what do we do???

This is the BevBoard, not Conspiracy Theories.

Things come and go. People's tastes change. And so on...

Hires is still alive and well, just not around here. There was a distributor in Phoenixville (Superior Beverages) that carried it, but they went out of business a few years ago. They delivered to the greater Philadelphia area, northern Delaware, southern New Jersey.

Now, the closest distributor is in the Baltimore/DC area. Unfortunately, they don't have a lot of presence because they don't do a lot of business, and most stores won't even bother with them.

If you're willing to travel a little, most Weis Markets locations should have Hires. Or, travel a little further... In North Carolina, there are a lot of independent Pepsi bottlers/distributors, and many of them carry A&W as their root beer, not Mug. So, the other bottlers carry Hires. It's produced by Independent Beverage in Charlotte NC.

Can you verify this information?

And I am not trying to start a conspiracy. My assumption comes from information obtained by contacting the corporations, bottlers, and local stores in several markets.

I have done my extensive homework.

If what you say is true, is your information up to date? (Jan 2011)

I have already spoke to Superior recently (12/14/2010) and they haven't bottled it for some time.

There is a lot of "I think" and "Could Be's" on BevNet. I am very happy you offered your knowledge on the matter but I request you post verified information. I will contact Independent Beverage that you have mentioned on the next business day to VERIFY your post. I will post accordingly to the validity of your information.

If you are correct this would make me very happy. Thanks for your time.

Independent Beverage does indeed bottle hires, but it's not sold around here (NC Piedmont area) anymore. I've seen 2L bottles in the Myrtle Beach area in SC in the past couple of years.

If you read this article, you'll see that Hires Root Beer was one of the brands that the company wanted to revitalize, but Sundrop was chosen instead:

Dr Pepper Snapple to Expand Sun Drop Soda - WSJ.com

DPSG owns the rights to lots of drinks, and they seem to want to settle for one in each flavor. (I recently started a thread about how they have phased out several chocolate drinks in favor of just Yoohoo.) They phased out Upper 10 in favor of 7 Up, Kick in favor of Sundrop, etc.

Hey CitrusCola, I hope you verified your info before posting

I guess I should have cited references, huh?

Actually, my brother is a big fan of Hires and he always wants me to look for it whenever I go out of town.

Originally Posted by CitrusCola

Independent Beverage does indeed bottle hires, but it's not sold around here (NC Piedmont area) anymore. I've seen 2L bottles in the Myrtle Beach area in SC in the past couple of years.

If you read this article, you'll see that Hires Root Beer was one of the brands that the company wanted to revitalize, but Sundrop was chosen instead:

Dr Pepper Snapple to Expand Sun Drop Soda - WSJ.com

DPSG owns the rights to lots of drinks, and they seem to want to settle for one in each flavor. (I recently started a thread about how they have phased out several chocolate drinks in favor of just Yoohoo.) They phased out Upper 10 in favor of 7 Up, Kick in favor of Sundrop, etc.

I did not read the article. I did a thread search for Hires and I did not notice this thread. Thanks for the great info!

In regards to SunDrop, I would like to add that I spoke to a rep from DPSG in Ocala last week (between Christmas and New Years 2010) and the person I spoke to did tell me they will start carrying SunDrop in the next month or two.

Originally Posted by CitrusCola

I guess I should have cited references, huh?

Actually, my brother is a big fan of Hires and he always wants me to look for it whenever I go out of town.

Hey Cirtus, if I happen to track a 12 pack down, I will drop one off for you free of charge.

I want to say I am sorry if I came off the way I did. This is just text. My goal is to keep Hires moving and I am very passionate about the soda. If you and your brother like Hires as much as I do, I would be more than happy to share the wealth once I locate it.

Originally Posted by thejax

Can you verify this information?

And I am not trying to start a conspiracy. My assumption comes from information obtained by contacting the corporations, bottlers, and local stores in several markets.

I have done my extensive homework.

If what you say is true, is your information up to date? (Jan 2011)

I have already spoke to Superior recently (12/14/2010) and they haven't bottled it for some time.

There is a lot of "I think" and "Could Be's" on BevNet. I am very happy you offered your knowledge on the matter but I request you post verified information. I will contact Independent Beverage that you have mentioned on the next business day to VERIFY your post. I will post accordingly to the validity of your information.

If you are correct this would make me very happy. Thanks for your time.

I can verify my information. I work in the beverage industry, and am in a variety of stores on a constant basis. I pretty much know who distributes what in the area I work in, plus some adjacent areas. Outside of that, I am fairly knowledgeable.

Obviously, you can walk to any corner store, and get a Coke, or a Pepsi, or a Mountain Dew. But the smaller brands are a real challenge sometimes. People will travel out of (or move out of) the area they live in, and expect to find them just as easily. I've had people ask me for things that are only sold in the south, or have been discontinued, or whatever.

When looking for the smaller brands, usually you have to get out there and do the legwork yourself. Making phone calls is generally a waste of time. Or, read up on someone's roadtrip report. I take very specific notes, the store location, odd things I found, and so on. I usually try to hit at least a few c-stores and a few grocery stores in an area to get a good feel for what is sold there. Not every store carries the exact same items. Of course, you will hit a lot of dead ends, get frustrated, waste gas, and so on, but it's so worth it when you hit that jackpot - a rare item that you can't help but spend $30 on to stock up.

The closest Weis Market location to me is in Havre De Grace, MD, and I know they carry Hires that is bottled by Independent. They also carry Vernors Ginger Ale. If I have time this week after work, I'll shoot down there and take you a picture, for proof. Independent's production code is NC, and the distributor is Beverage Network of Maryland. They have Vernors at the Redner's Warehouse Market in Elkton, MD, but not Hires. This is their website (they are a subsidiary of Global Beverage Solutions of FL).

{{{ GBVS.OB : Global Beverage Solutions, Inc. }}}

It's a real shame about Superior. I really liked their lineup - they brought up Cheerwine, Sundrop, Diet Rite flavors, West Jefferson longnecks, Crush (pre-Pepsi), Hires, and other small brands. But in these days of companies paying big dollar to buy shelf space, small guys like Superior have a hard time competing. I also was friends with one of the salesman, Sammy, and we used to talk beverages a lot. They used to carry Hires longnecks, I remember them at the Super Fresh in Chichester (now a Pathmark, from what I hear). I think they came from Polar Beverages? Can't remember for sure.

As for the Pepsi bottlers in NC, here is one of the larger ones - Minges. As you can see, they carry Pepsi, Mist & Dew, and everything else is a DPS product.

Welcome to Minges Bottling Group Inc.


I've always wanted to run a specialty beverage distributor, like realsoda.com. But I realize that is a really tough market to crack into. So the second option would be a retail store, like Galco's, Marcel's (rip), Homer Soda Company, and so on. Unfortunately, that would also require a lot of startup money. And then there was the issue of the deposit law here in Delaware, which was thankfully recently repealed. Maybe if I hit the lottery, lol.

I wish the poster Cheer-Wined was still around here, he lives in NC, and could offer a lot of good information.

I will keep my eye out for any Hires in PA or DE, but I'm not holding our much hope (other than the Weis stuff). I know that Abarta Coke in Bethlehem PA used to co-pack 6 packs, but I don't think they do so anymore. I do know they produce 12 packs of DPS produces for Davis Beverage in nearby Allentown, but not Hires.

thejax, try this phone number, 570-547-0777. It is the Montgomery, PA branch of Davis Beverage. I found it on google so I can not verify it is correct. I am guessing they are the source of the Hires Root Beer I've found in Tioga and Lycoming counties from 2006-early 2010. I have not looked for Hires nor been in any of the stores that I've purchased Hires at since early 2010 so I'm not sure if it is still around.
You can also do an internet search for the phone number of Scot's Lo Cost near Williamsport, PA; might be Muncy. They are one of the places that had 12 packs as of fall 2009. I'm not sure if the are still a Scot's or recently converted to Weis.
Maybe, if the weather is decent I may venture into PA Sunday and have a look around but if I do see Hires it will be single serve but at least that would be proof Hires is still in northern PA.