This Mostly Forgotten Cola Was A Pioneer In The Industry. Now It's Hardly On Shelves

Given the popularity of both Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola, you'd be forgiven if you thought one of those brands was the first to introduce soda in aluminum cans, diet cola, or caffeine-free cola. The truth is that RC Cola was the industry leader in all three of those innovations. It makes it a little tragic when you think of it today, given how small RC's market share is, thanks, in part, to business decisions made by their rivals.

In the early days of cola, RC was doing well and had 700 bottling plants by 1920. Its origins reach back to a grocery store basement. Known back then as Chero-Cola, Coca-Cola sued the company for using the word "cola." Three years later, unable to financially keep up the fight and buy the ingredients it needed to make its product, it dropped the word "cola."

After several rebrandings and ownership changes, Chero Cola was launched again in 1934 as Royal Crown. Four years later, Royal Crown was the third best-selling cola in America. By 1944, it was legally allowed to say "cola" again and the company became the Royal Crown Cola Company in the 1950s.

In 1958, Royal Crown created Diet-Rite, the first diet soda, and it was a bombshell. It took a sizable chunk of the soda market in the 1960s. Pepsi and Coca-Cola were forced to play catch-up, introducing Patio Cola (later Diet Pepsi) and the discontinued Tab Cola. Royal Crown stayed ahead of the pack until the cyclamate debacle. Cyclamate was the chemical used to sweeten all three diet sodas. It was much sweeter than real sugar and tasted great.

The sugar industry, fearful of losing business, conducted studies and claimed cyclamate was toxic. By 1969 they had linked cyclamate to birth defects and tumors in animals, even though it occurred after massive doses well beyond anything humans would ever consume. In 1970 Royal Crown had 10% of the market share, but that fell off dramatically. Cyclamate and poor business decisions ruined them. During the 1980s, at the height of the cola wars, the company refused to advertise. Bottlers declined to work with them and RC edged itself out of the market.

In the 1990s, as RC tried to climb back under new ownership, it suffered more setbacks. Pepsi and Coca-Cola were dominating the field and had made exclusive deals with supermarkets for shelf space. These deals ensured rival brands were excluded from being sold in stores and RC couldn't compete. Now it's hard to find RC outside of independent stores, gas stations, and small pockets of the American South.

Outside of America, RC is big in places like Tajikistan and the Philippines, where it works with local bottlers. It's sold at a better price than Pepsi and Coca-Cola, so it has perceived value. It may never achieve the share it once had, and you can see how we ranked it, but RC still has a niche and some loyal fans.