A.J. Canfield Company
{{short description|Produces and bottles soda beverages}}
{{Infobox company
| name = A.J. Canfield Company
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| industry = Soda Beverage Producer
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| fate = Sold to Select Beverages in 1995, which later came under ownership of Keurig Dr Pepper
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| foundation = Chicago, Illinois, US ({{Start date|1924}})
| founder = Arthur J. Canfield
| defunct = {{End date|1995}}
| location_city = Chicago, Illinois
| location_country = United States
| locations =
| area_served = US Midwest region
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| products = soft drinks
| brands = Canfield's Diet Chocolate Fudge
Canfield's 50/50
Canfield's Dry Ginger Ale
Grandpa Graf's
Swiss Creme
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The A.J. Canfield Company was a Chicago-based independent producer of carbonated beverages founded in 1924. The company was known during its later years for marketing unusual flavors, including Canfield's Diet Chocolate Fudge; it was sold by the Canfield family in 1995 to Select Beverages.{{cite news |last1=Vogell |first1=Heather |title=Arthur J. Canfield, 84; helped in expansion of soft-drink company |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/169535086/?terms=canfield%20sold&match=1 |access-date=4 June 2022 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=August 31, 2000}}
History
File:50 50 Soda Bottle 2013-04-08 20-38.jpg
The company was started in 1924,{{cite court |litigants= A.J. Canfield Co. v. Vess Beverages, Inc.|vol= 796|reporter= F.2d |opinion= 903 |court= 7th Cir.|date= 15 July 1986|url= http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/796/903/252175/|access-date=11 June 2012}} at 67th Street and South Chicago Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, by Arthur J. Canfield, a former railroad worker.{{cite news|last=Vogell|first=Heather|title=Arthur J. Canfield, 84|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2000/08/31/arthur-j-canfield-84-helped-in-expansion-of-soft-drink-company/|access-date=11 June 2012|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=31 August 2000}}
Canfield's was unique during much of its early history in the marketing approach of using quart glass bottles of a unique design that could be returned only to the Canfield's bottling plant, whereas almost all regional bottlers at the time used generic quart glass bottles with removable paper labels that could be returned to any bottling plant. The company then promoted its beverages and bottles to be of higher quality than other Chicago area soft drink makers. This plan produced mixed results, as some retailers declined to carry Canfield's products to avoid the extra work required to return the bottles. Canfield's also used unique reinforced wooden cases for delivery and return of their quart bottles to help prevent breakage.
Canfield's was a marketer of this unique bottle until the mid-1970s. Around 1976, Canfield's switched to a plastic quart bottle with a unique shape resembling a vintage glass "milk bottle with cream top". This change coincided with Canfield's "Come Taste The Rainbow - Canfield's Rainbow Of Flavor And Fun" advertising campaign. A wide variety of fruit flavored sodas were added to the product line at this time.
Canfield's was a large scale advertiser on Channel 9 in Chicago until 1995, when the company was sold to Select Beverages.{{cite news|last=Ford|first=Dawn|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-17422451/select-buys-canfield-creates.html|title=Select buys Canfield, creates Midwest powerhouse| work=Beverage Industry | date=1 July 1995|access-date=11 June 2012}} Its largest plant, on the south side of Chicago at East 89th Place, was closed in December 1995.{{cite news|last=Millman|first=Nancy|title=New Owner To Dip Canfield Into New Markets|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/04/09/new-owner-to-dip-canfield-into-new-markets/|access-date=11 June 2012|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=9 April 1996}}
In 1998, Select Beverages was acquired by the American Bottling Company, a joint venture company owned by Cadbury Schweppes and the Carlyle Group.{{cite news|last=Kirk|first=Jim|title=Select Beverages To Be Swallowed By Joint Venture Firm|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1998/02/24/select-beverages-to-be-swallowed-by-joint-venture-firm/|access-date=11 June 2012|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=24 February 1998}} Ownership would eventually be taken over by Keurig Dr Pepper.
Products
- Canfield's 50/50 was a grapefruit- and lime-flavored soft drink{{cite book | last=Haddix | first=C. | last2=Kraig | first2=B. | title=The Chicago Food Encyclopedia | publisher=University of Illinois Press | series=Heartland Foodways | year=2017 | isbn=978-0-252-09977-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F4YyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT532 | access-date=December 9, 2017 | page=532}}{{cite book | title=Beverage Industry | publisher=Magazines for Industry | issue=v. 78, nos. 1000-1011 | year=1987 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oB8tAQAAMAAJ | language=et | access-date=December 9, 2017 | page=142}}{{cite web|url=http://www.beveragesdirect.com/detail-776-Canfields_5050_Soda_12_Pack.asp|title=Beverages Direct web site|access-date=25 October 2010}} In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the 50/50 soft drink brand was bottled at Laurel Packaging, Inc. (now Pepsi Bottling Group), Johnstown, PA, and was distributed by the Will G. Keck Corporation (Kecksburg, PA) and also by D & M Management, Inc. (Davidsville, PA), an independent beverage distribution firm, in the West Central Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, DC, and the Northern Virginia areas.{{cite web|url=http://www.beveragesdirect.com/detail-1390-Canfields_5050_Soda_6_Pack.asp|title=Canfield's 50/50 Soda}}{{cite web | title=Arthur J. Canfield, 84 | website=Chicago Tribune | date=August 31, 2000 | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2000/08/31/arthur-j-canfield-84-helped-in-expansion-of-soft-drink-company/ | access-date=November 24, 2017}}
- Canfield's Diet Chocolate Fudge
- Canfield's Dry
- Grandpa Graf's
- Swiss Creme Soda
- Mickey Melon, a watermelon drink made in association with Mickey Rooney
- Club soda
- Tonic water
- Anna Banana
- Honee Orange
- Hula Punch
References
{{Portal|Drink|Companies|Chicago}}
{{reflist}}
{{Keurig Dr Pepper brands}}
Category:Drink companies of the United States