Chemist who invented Pepsi-Cola

Bradham who was working as a pharmacist despite his background as a college dropout made the famous invention in 1898 in North Carolina after experimenting with combinations of spices, juices, and syrups while trying to create a concoction to treat stomach upsets.

Stomach upsets were common in those days and customers kept asking for a remedy. He knew that to keep people returning to his pharmacy, he had to invent something that people could enjoy and also cure stomach upsets. This way, he figured he could turn his pharmacy into a gathering place.

Roughly, this is how the inventor arrived at the decision to concoct his own special beverage, a soft drink.

"His creation, a unique mixture of kola nut extract, vanilla and rare oils, became so popular his customers named it ‘Brad’s Drink.’ Bradham decided to rename it ‘Pepsi-Cola,’ and advertised his new soft drink. People responded, and sales of Pepsi-Cola started to grow, convincing him that he should form a company to market the new beverage," states www.softdrinks-beverage.blogspot.com.

According to the website, Bradham launched the Pepsi-Cola Company in the back room of his pharmacy in 1902, and applied to the US Patent Office for a trademark.

Initially, he mixed the syrup himself and sold it exclusively through small shops. He later realised that he could make more money by bottling Pepsi so that people could drink it anywhere.

The business began to grow, and on June 16, 1903, Pepsi-Cola was officially registered with the US Patent Office. That year, Bradham sold 7,968 gallons of the drink, using the catch phrase ‘Exhilarating, Invigorating, Aids Digestion. He also began awarding franchises to independent investors to manufacture the new beverage.

Greatest achievement

Building a strong franchise system was one of the inventor’s greatest achievements. Local Pepsi-Cola bottlers, entrepreneurial in spirit and dedicated to the product’s success, provided a sturdy foundation. They formed the cornerstone of the Pepsi-Cola enterprise.

It is over a century since Pepsi was first bottled and the company has now grown into a huge empire. PepsiCo now offers 32 different kinds of carbonated and non-carbonated drinks with Pepsi-Cola beverages being sold in 170 countries around the globe.

"It also produces 30 different kinds of snack foods and 21 cereals and other grain-related foods through its subsidiaries, Frito Lay and Quaker Oats. And, of course, the company continues its "cola war," battling rival Coca-Cola Company to produce the beverage of choice," states www.referenceforbusiness.com.

According to the website, it is not clear whether Bradham had tasted Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia, where the drink, which was also being sold as a medicinal beverage, had been invented several years earlier.

But with strong management and unique vision, the company which now trades as PepsiCo Inc., is not only a major player in the beverage and snack industry, but is also one of the most successful companies in the world.

Changing trends

"Much of the company’s success comes from the fact that it consistently stays in touch with changing trends and lifestyles, and gives consumers the tastes and conveniences they desire.

Seeds of the phenomenal growth were planted in 1909 when the inventor erected the company’s headquarters in Northern Carolina. Barney Oldfield who was a famous racing car driver then endorsed Pepsi in newspaper ad calling it "a bully drink...refreshing, invigorating, a fine bracer before a race."

The previous year, Pepsi had been one of the first companies in the US to switch from horse-drawn transport to motor vehicles making Bradham’s business expertise to capture widespread attention.

He was even mentioned as a possible candidate for Governor. A 1913 editorial in the Greensboro Patriot praised him for his "keen and energetic business sense."

Pepsi-Cola enjoyed several unbroken years of success until 1930 when the inventor started promoting it with the slogan, "Drink Pepsi-Cola. It will satisfy you."

The onset of World War I increased the cost of doing business. Sugar prices started to see-saw between record highs and disastrous lows, which inadvertently increased the price of producing Pepsi-Cola.

The inventor was forced into a series of business gambles. He bought a huge inventory of sugar at a very high price, but instead of sugar prices climbing up, they went down. After three exhausting years of using expensive sugar to produce his beverage, his luck ran out and he went bankrupt.

Bright future

"It wasn’t until a successful candy manufacturer, Charles Guth, appeared on the scene that the future of Pepsi-Cola was assured. Guth was president of Loft Incorporated, a large chain of candy stores and soda fountains along the eastern seaboard.

He saw Pepsi-Cola as an opportunity to discontinue an unsatisfactory business relationship with Coca-Cola, and at the same time to add an attractive drawing card to Loft’s soda fountains. After five owners and 15 unprofitable years, Pepsi-Cola was once again a thriving national brand," states www.softdrinks-beverage.blogspot.com.

The company has manufactured a number of Pepsi variations over the years including Diet Pepsi, Crystal Pepsi, Pepsi Twist, Pepsi Max, Pepsi Samba, Pepsi Blue, Pepsi Gold and Pepsi Holiday Spice.

*****************************

This column tracks classic entrepreneurs who built companies from scratch. They are picked based on virtues identified in a survey of 7,000 executives by Harvard Business School professors Anthony J. Mayo and Nitin Nohria for their book, "In Their Time" (Harvard Business School Press, 2005). They include vision and integrity, perseverance and courage, a hunger for innovation, and a willingness to take risks. They had the ability to read the forces that shaped their times, and to seize on the resulting opportunities.