Faygo or
Faygo Pop is a
soft drinkA soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
brand headquartered in
Detroit, MichiganDetroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. It is distributed in the
MidwestThe Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
,
Mid-AtlanticThe Mid-Atlantic states, also called middle Atlantic states or simply the mid Atlantic, form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South...
, and Central
SouthernThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
regions of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Faygo can be found throughout the United States and
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, in more than fifty flavors.
History
Faygo was founded in Monroe Michigan on November 4, 1907, as
Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works by
RussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n immigrants Ben and Perry Feigenson. The original flavors of Faygo (fruit punch, strawberry, and grape) were based on cake
frostingIcing, also called frosting in the United States, is a sweet often creamy glaze made of sugar with a liquid such as water or milk, that is often enriched with ingredients such as butter, egg whites, cream cheese, or flavorings and is used to cover or decorate baked goods, such as cakes or cookies...
recipes used by the Feigensons in Russia. The brothers ran the company until the mid-1940s, when they turned it over to their sons. In the 1950s, the company created a series of
radioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
advertisements featuring a fictional cowboy called the Faygo Kid, who was portrayed in animation for television commercials for Faygo Old-Fashioned Root Beer.
Because the drink had a limited shelf life, Faygo was only sold within Michigan, until the late 1950s, when the company hired chemists who found that ingredients in the water limited the life of the finished soda, and designed a filtering system that purified the water, allowing the pop's shelf life to be expanded. In the 1960s, the soda's regional popularity expanded when the company began advertising during broadcasts of
Detroit TigersThe Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
games. Commercials produced in the 1970s featured "everyday people" on an excursion boat singing the "Faygo Boat Song". The company was sold to
National Beverage Corp.National Beverage Corp. is a second tier U.S. beverage developer, manufacturer, and distributor based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida focused on flavored soft drinks. National Beverage Corp. is ranked by Beverage Digest as the fifth-largest soft drink company in the United States.-History:The company...
in 1987.
In 1998, Faygo Beverages, Inc. began distributing the Ohana (a Hawaiian word that means "family") brand of non-carbonated soft drinks. Faygo Beverages, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Beverage Corporation, which also owns
ShastaShasta Beverages is a U.S. soft drink manufacturer, which markets a value-priced soft drink line with a wide variety of soda flavors, under the brand name Shasta Soda. The company name is derived from Mount Shasta and an associated spring.- History :...
. Many Faygo brand flavors are shared with Shasta brands. In 2007, Faygo celebrated its 100th anniversary.
Faygo brands received some high praise from the culinary industry when it was announced that the September 2009 issue of
Bon AppétitBon Appétit describes itself as "a food and entertaining magazine" and is published monthly. Named after the French phrase for "Enjoy your meal", it was started by M. Frank Jones in Kansas City in 1956...
magazine ranked Faygo Root Beer as the best tasting American root beer, describing it as "dry and crisp, with a frothy head, a good bite and a long finish."
Faygo is often talked about by the
hip hopHip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
group
Insane Clown PosseInsane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore...
, who reference Faygo in several of their songs written by Paul Anthem. Positive audience reaction to an early concert performance in which
Violent JJoseph Frank "Joe" Bruce is an American rapper, record producer, professional wrestler and actor. Bruce is most commonly known as Violent J of the Insane Clown Posse . He is the co-founder of the record label Psychopathic Records, with fellow ICP rapper Joseph Utsler and their former manager,...
threw an open bottle at a row of hecklers resulted in the group continuing to spray their audiences with the drink.
Faygo is also known by some to be the signature drink of Gamzee Makara, a Troll character of the increasingly popular webcomic "Homestuck". The ever growing fanbase of the comic and its characters (particularly Gamzee) is gradually making the drink more known in areas such as the UK, but for the moment importing it overseas is incredibly expensive for fans.
Faygo
- 60/40 (60% grapefruit
The grapefruit , is a subtropical citrus tree known for its sour fruit, an 18th-century hybrid first bred in Barbados. When found, it was named the "forbidden fruit"; it has also been misidentified with the pomelo or shaddock , one of the parents of this hybrid, the other being sweet orange The...
, 40% limeLime is a term referring to a number of different citrus fruits, both species and hybrids, which are typically round, green to yellow in color, 3–6 cm in diameter, and containing sour and acidic pulp. Limes are a good source of vitamin C. Limes are often used to accent the flavors of foods and...
)
- Dr. Faygo
- Black Cherry
- Black Cherry and Raspberry
- Blue Not-Moon Mist
- Blue Raspberry
- Candy Apple
Candy apples, also known as toffee apples outside of North America, are whole apples covered in a hard sugar candy coating. While the topping varies from place to place, they are almost always served with a stick of sorts in the middle making them easier to eat...
(discontinued; reintroduced later)
- Centennial Soda (Blueberry cream)
- City Soda
- Champagne Kola
- Chocolate Creme Pie Soda*
- Club Soda
- Cola
Cola is a carbonated beverage that was typically flavored by the kola nut as well as vanilla and other flavorings, however, some colas are now flavored artificially. It became popular worldwide after druggist John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886...
*
- Cotton Candy*
- Cherry Cola
- Creme Soda
Cream soda is a sweet carbonated soft drink, often flavored with vanilla.-History and development:A recipe for cream soda—written by E.M. Sheldon and published in Michigan Farmer in 1852—called for water, cream of tartar, Epsom salts, sugar, tartaric acid, egg, and milk, to be mixed together, then...
*
- Frosh*
- Fruit Punch
- Ginger Ale
Ginger ale is a carbonated soft drink flavored with ginger. Dr. Thomas Cantrell, an American apothecary and surgeon, claimed to have invented ginger ale and marketed it with beverage manufacturer Grattan and Company. Grattan embossed the slogan "The Original Makers of Ginger Ale" on its bottles...
*
- Grape*
- Jazzin' Blues Berry
- Red Pop
- Key Lime Pie*
- Kiwi Strawberry (non-carbonated)
- Mango Tango*
- Moon Mist*
- Moon Mist Red*
- Moon Mist Blue*
- Morning Mist
- Orange*
- Orange Chug
- Original Black Raspberry
- Peach*
- Pineapple
- Pineapple Orange* (This flavor had a difficult premiere in 1961 or 1962, when unsterilized pineapple juice sourced by Dole
Dole Food Company, Inc. is an American-based agricultural multinational corporation headquartered in Westlake Village, California. The company is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, operating with 74,300 full-time and seasonal employees who are responsible for over 300...
fermented in the product and caused bottles to explode on the shelves).
- Pineapple Watermelon
- Raspberry Blueberry*
- Fine Rhubarb Pie (Winning Flavor of the 2007 "Design a Flavor" contest sponsored in Adrian, Lenawee County, Michigan)
- Red Pop
Red Pop is a variant of cream soda that is traditionally flavored with strawberries.-Description:Major producers of Red Pop include Faygo/Shasta and Big Red. The brands do differ to some extent as to the character of their Red Pop...
*
- Rock & Rye
- Root Beer
Root beer is a carbonated, sweetened beverage, originally made using the root of a sassafras plant as the primary flavor. Root beer, popularized in North America, comes in two forms: alcoholic and soft drink. The historical root beer was analogous to small beer in that the process provided a drink...
*
- Sensation
- Strawberry*
- APEX signature flavors
- Svlender Twist*
- Ivy Sic and Lime
- Jive Turkey Tonic
- Connie Creme Soda
- Quick Ben Bubbly
- Licorice Larry Lager
- Tonic Water
Tonic water is a carbonated soft drink in which quinine is dissolved. Originally used as a prophylactic against malaria, tonic water usually now has a significantly lower quinine content and is consumed for its distinctively bitter taste...
*
- Twist* (lemon-lime, formerly UpTown)
- Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
Creme Soda*
* also available in diet
St. Nick's Faygo
(Sold around Christmas in association with St. Jude's Hospital)
- St. Nick's Red Grape
- St. Nick's Orange creme
- St. Nick's Candy cane cola
- St. Nick's Holiday Punch
- St. Nick's Cranberry Smash
Ohana
- Kiwi Strawberry
- Lemon Iced Tea
- Lemonade
- Melon
- Raspberry Lemonade
- Pom Pom Lemonade
- Punch
- Lemon Punch
- Very Berry
- Lemonade & Iced Tea
- Strawberry Banana
Rip It
- Power
- Citrus X
- Sugar Free
- A'Tomic Pom
- Lime Wrecker
- Gin-Zing-r
- Sting-er Mo
- G-Force (Grape)
- F-Bomb (Fruit Punch)
Discontinued
- Arctic Sun
- Chateaux Faygeaux (a wine-flavored soda made in the 1970s)
- Cherry Festival
- Faygo Brau (a nonalcoholic ginger beer made in the 1960s that looked and poured like real beer)
- Honeydew Mist
- Moonshine
- Raspberry Creme (non-diet)
- Uptown (name changed to Twist)
- Coconut Cream Pie (discontinued as of July 2010)
- 20 oz Red Zone
- 20 oz Cactus Rush
- 20 oz Cran-Jammer
- 20 oz Mojito
External links