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Today we're looking at why A&W is still the number one root beer after 100 years
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In 1919, a man named Roy Allen opened a root beer stand in Lodi, California
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As legend goes, Allen was traveling in Arizona when he met a pharmacist and chemist
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who convinced Allen that he had created the perfect root beer recipe. Allen purchased the recipe from this mysterious man
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and decided to stake his claim in California, going all in on root beer
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Allen's business started off slowly. At the time, selling alcohol was illegal
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due to governmental mandates. This era, now referred to as Prohibition, had a number of unintended consequences
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on American culture. Sodas and root beer skyrocketed. In 1922, Allen, along with a new business partner
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named Frank Wright, decided to rename the business with the grand opening of a second location
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in Stockton, California. They chose A&W Root Beer, taken from the initials of their surnames
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A few years later, Allen used profits from the business to buy out a chain of root beer stands, increasing their market share
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substantially. The business continued to expand, and by 1930, there were over 200 franchised A&W
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locations all over the country. Multiple locations were forced to close after the U.S. entered World
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War II due to shortages and rationing. After the war, the company bounced back bigger than ever
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expanding to 260 restaurants by 1941. In 1950, Allen was feeling a little long in the tooth
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So he sold A to Gene Hertz a root beer magnate from Nebraska and the company was reshaped Now called the A Root Beer Company Hertz pursued an aggressive expansion agenda
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In the next eight years, Hertz oversaw roughly 1,800 new franchise openings
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By 1960, the chain boasted over 2,000 locations across the U.S. They even managed to open a location in Canada
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By the time the 1970s rolled around, A&W had created their own distribution company to sell their root beers in stores
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Also around this time, A&W introduced a new mascot, the A&W Root Bear
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By this point, A&W was itself the great Root Bear. The brand had close to 50 years of deliciousness under its belt and locations across the country
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They were also now more ubiquitous than ever, thanks to the successful efforts in distributing their drink in stores
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But you don't climb to the top without stepping on some toes, or in this case, cutting some corners
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Recently, A&W was the target of a class-action lawsuit alleging the brand was engaging in false advertising
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by claiming its root beer contained aged vanilla. The case was settled out of court in 2023
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to the tune of over $15 million, with A&W admitting no wrongdoing
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which probably means there's no vanilla in those drinks. Today, A&W is still the most popular brand
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of root beer in the country. In the third quarter of 2024, restaurants that sell A&W generated
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over $13.7 million in income thanks to the old-timey treat. and the brand is still the most recognized
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of all its competitors to this day. There's no arguing that A&W is root beer
