From Imperial Sugar News| June 15, 2010
by Ed Lallo/Newsroom Ink
Imperial Sugar Company (ISC) helped long-time customer Dublin, Texas Dr Pepper Bottling Company cap off a week-long celebration of its 119th anniversary. Dublin Dr Pepper is the first Dr Pepper bottling plant and the longest-running, soft drink bottler in the world.
“The original formula of Dublin Dr Pepper has been made for 119 years – every single time with Imperial pure cane sugar,” says Lori Dodd, special events coordinator at Dublin Dr Pepper.
In the early ‘70s when high fructose corn syrup became an alternative for sweetening soft drinks, Dublin Dr Pepper made the decision to stay with Imperial Sugar as its sweetener. Dodd says the company’s concern for customer preference was a more important consideration than the lower cost of corn syrup.
Dublin Dr Pepper is a company long on tradition. The bottling equipment used in the plant today dates back as far as the 1920s, including the syrup dispenser (1936 ) and the mixer (1920s), which is so old the company doesn’t even have the manual for it. The newest piece of equipment, the bottle washer, was deployed in 1965. The bottling equipment only works with the bottles made between 1950 and 1990.
As an event sponsor, Imperial Sugar hosted a tent, where visitors decorated about 600 sugar cookies with its new line of Baker’s Supreme Premium Frosting Mixes. “It was a hit with the young and the young at heart,” says Emily Smith, ISC food scientist who passed out cookies.
Both companies had their beginnings in the 1800s – Imperial Sugar in 1843 and Dr Pepper in 1891. “Imperial Sugar has had a very long relationship here with Dr Pepper,” says Bob Fleenor, regional sales manager for ISC’s industrial division. “They’re an excellent and much-appreciated partner, and we look forward to a strong relationship in the future.”
Fleenor says Imperial Sugar anticipates its role as a sweetener solutions provider to Dublin Dr Pepper will expand to other bottlers. He credits the Dublin company for promoting the use of natural cane sugar.