Autocrat, LLC
{{Short description|Coffee manufacturing company}}
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Autocrat, LLC (now named Finlay Extracts and Ingredients USA (Finlays)) is a company manufacturing coffee and tea extracts based in Lincoln, Rhode Island, United States. The company's coffee syrups are often used to make coffee milk, which became the official state drink of Rhode Island in 1993.{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/coffee-milk_us_5915e7a8e4b00f308cf4ff7d |title=Coffee Milk Is Rhode Island's Secret Local Drink You've Got To Try |website=Huffington Post |date=2017-05-12 |access-date=2017-08-04}} The company's name change occurred in 2015, and its retail products remain marketed under the Autocrat brand name.
History
Autocrat, LLC was established in 1895 under the name Brownell & Field Coffee Company, and began manufacturing coffee syrup in the 1930s.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DdU9NHiX3OcC&pg=PA130 | title=Rhode Island Curiosities | publisher=Globe Pequot | author=Brown, Seth | year=2007 | pages=130 | isbn=978-0762743384}} In 1991, the firm acquired Eclipse, a coffee-syrup manufacturer, after which it became the sole manufacturer of coffee syrup in the United States.{{cite web|authorlink1=Robert Simonson | last=Simonson | first=Robert | title=Rhode Island Coffee Milk | website=Imbibe | date=April 16, 2011 | url=http://imbibemagazine.com/rhode-island-s-coffee-syrup/ | access-date=November 4, 2017}} In January 2012, the firm partnered with RFI, LLC to expand coffee-product offerings.{{Cite news|url=http://www.vendingmarketwatch.com/news/10616699/autocrat-llc-partners-with-rfi-llc-to-expand-coffee-product-offerings|title=Autocrat, LLC Partners With RFI, LLC To Expand Coffee Product Offerings|work=VendingMarketWatch|access-date=2017-11-03|language=en}} In April 2014, the company was acquired by James Finlay Limited, a British tea-extract producer, and continued to operate under the Autocrat name.{{Cite web |title=James Finlay buys coffee extract supplier Autocrat {{!}} 2014-05-05 {{!}} Dairy Foods |url=https://www.dairyfoods.com/articles/90447-james-finlay-buys-coffee-extract-supplier-autocrat |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=www.dairyfoods.com |language=en}} In July 2015, the company's corporate name was changed to Finlay Extracts and Ingredients USA (Finlays). Retail products remain marketed under the Autocrat brand name.
Products
The company produces a brand of coffee syrup under the Autocrat name, and as Coffee Time Syrup,{{cite news|url=http://www.providenceonline.com/stories/Narragansett-Beer-Autocrat-Coffee-Milk-Stout-drink-alcohol-Providence-Monthly,10790 |title=Drunk on Gansett Coffee Milk |date=December 16, 2013 |agency=Providence Monthly |access-date=21 December 2013 |author=Dietsch, Emily |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224101749/http://www.providenceonline.com/stories/Narragansett-Beer-Autocrat-Coffee-Milk-Stout-drink-alcohol-Providence-Monthly%2C10790 |archive-date=24 December 2013 }} and after the acquisition of Eclipse in 1991, it also continued to manufacture coffee syrup under the Eclipse brand name. It also manufactures and markets frozen and powdered coffee and tea extracts and concentrates.
Autocrat and Coffee Connection collaborated to invent the Frappuccino in 1992, and in 1994 Starbucks acquired all the 23 Coffee Connection locations, along with the trademark rights to the "Frappuccino" name.
In December 2013, Narragansett Brewing Company marketed a limited-edition stout brewed with Autocrat coffee syrup.{{cite news | url=http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/blogs/99bottles/2013/12/narragansett_announces_release_of_autocrat_coffee_milk_stout.html | title=Narragansett announces release of Autocrat Coffee Milk Stout | date=December 3, 2013 | work=The Boston Globe | access-date=21 December 2013 | author=Dzen, Gary}}{{cite news | url=http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/10/18/narragansett-beer-co-planning-autocrat-coffee-milk-stout/ | title=Narragansett Beer Co. Planning Autocrat Coffee Milk Stout | date=October 18, 2013 | work=CBS News |location=Boston | access-date=21 December 2013}}{{Cite web |title=What Exactly Is Coffee Milk, Anyway? A Rhode Islander Explains |url=https://www.foodandwine.com/what-is-coffee-milk-8746789 |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=Food & Wine |language=en}}
See also
{{portalbar|Coffee|Companies|Drink|Rhode Island}}
References
{{reflist|30em|refs=
{{cite web | last=Lukas | first=Paul | title=The Big Flavors Of Little Rhode Island | website=The New York Times | date=November 13, 2002 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/13/dining/the-big-flavors-of-little-rhode-island.html | access-date=August 23, 2017}}
{{cite web | author=Bender, John | title=What's In That Coffee Cabinet? A Delicious Taste Of Rhode Island History | publisher=NPR | date=September 5, 2016 | url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/09/05/492278535/whats-in-that-coffee-cabinet-a-delicious-taste-of-rhode-island-history | access-date=August 23, 2017}}
{{cite web | author= Lefebvre, Rochelle | title=Autocrat in Lincoln sold to UK company | publisher=WPRI | date=April 29, 2014 | url=http://wpri.com/2014/04/29/autocrat-in-lincoln-sold-to-uk-company/ | access-date=August 23, 2017}}
{{cite web | author=Coelho, James | title=How Autocrat Has Changed With The Times | website=Rhode Island Monthly | date=November 23, 2015 | url=http://www.rimonthly.com/how-autocrat-has-changed-with-the-times/ |access-date=August 23, 2017}}
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External links
{{Commons category|Autocrat}}
- {{Official website|http://www.autocrat.com}}
{{coffee}}
Category:Coffee companies of the United States
Category:Food and drink companies established in 1895
Category:1895 establishments in Rhode Island
Category:2014 mergers and acquisitions
Category:Food and drink companies disestablished in 2014