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Double Cola is a regionally manufactured U.S. brand of soft drink, predominately distributed east of the Mississippi River, and available in select international markets.
The Double Cola Company is headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was purchased in 1980 by K.J. International, Inc. of London, England from a Canadian firm Pop Shops International, which acquired it from a consortium of private investors and remains wholly privately held. The company was originally founded in 1922, primarily to market "Double Orange" and "Good Grape", now called "Jumbo Orange" and "Jumbo Grape". The Double Cola product was developed in 1933 and soon became the company's flagship product and the company was renamed for it shortly afterward. It was soon followed by "Double-Dry" ginger ale. In 1956 the company developed "Ski", which is comparable to "Mountain Dew" or "Mello Yello" but predates either product. Bottlers were formerly small, community-based affiliated operations, as were many other brands of soft drinks. Today much of the production is bottled in Huntsville, Alabama.
Marketing
It was formerly available in a somewhat-wider area of the South. Yet Double Cola is a distinctive part of culture in Southern Indiana, especially Evansville. It was once marketed as a lower-cost alternative to Coca-Cola and other soft drinks, but Double Cola is now marketed as a premium brand in that area, with the same or higher price than Coca-Cola or Pepsi). The company hopes to continue re-entry in all of its former U.S. markets, and expand into the Midwest, in the near future. Diet versions of both Double Cola and Ski have been developed in recent years, as has Cherry Ski, which tastes like "Code Red" and was developed several years before.
The "Jumbo" line of fruit-flavored drinks has been expanded to include peach, strawberry, pineapple, fruit punch, root beer, and blue creme soda. Some of these drinks are available only in very limited areas.
Speculation that expansion to Middle Eastern markets was at least in part a chance to exploit the company's low profile and consequent lack of political connotations now inherent in the Coke-Pepsi struggle. Though the Double Cola company's international sales are not as large as Coke or Pepsi, their presence in South Asia, South America, the Middle East and consumption in 17 nations comprises their international market. Their two other brands, "Oranta" orange drink and "Chaser" lemon-lime drink, are available only in the international markets, and represent the extent of the international product line other than Double Cola itself.
