LISBON FALLS, Maine – Moxie, the nation’s first soft drink that once outsold Coke, is set for a revival.
Earlier this year, Cornucopia Beverages Co. bought the long-neglected brand from an Atlanta business, bringing it back to its New England roots and launching an ambitious plan to save Moxie from irrelevance, reports the Boston Globe.
In recent weeks, the company has sent vendors across New Hampshire and Maine to peddle the carbonated beverage at places where prospective Moxie fans might congregate: at minor league baseball games, at a lottery for moose hunting permits, and at Wal-Mart stores. Last month, Cornucopia sponsored a Moxie-chugging contest here at an annual three-day festival in honor of the beverage that attracted thousands.
Cornucopia has launched a trial program to sell Moxie for the first time in Florida, where company officials believe many fans of the drink might be living in retirement. And the company is pressing for more discounts and shelf space across New England to reach the fans it believes are still here.
“There’s a diehard loyal following here in New England, but it’s pretty esoteric,” said Justin Conroy, Cornucopia’s brand manager, to the Boston Globe. “Moxie has a unique taste and we have a lot of opportunity to grow it inside our territory and beyond. And we want to have some fun doing it.”
Reviving the popularity of a drink that in its heyday had high-profile endorsers and fans – Red Sox slugger Ted Williams promoted the drink, and President Calvin Coolidge is said to have toasted his swearing-in with an ice-cold glass of Moxie – figures to be a long, hard slurp. Detractors grimace at a drink they think is too bitter and medicinal. Even longtime Moxie enthusiasts concede that their favorite soda is liquid tough love.
“You have to acquire a taste for it,” said James Jannson, 61, of Shelton, Conn., a member of the New England Moxie Congress, a loosely knit band of Moxie zealots who collect Moxie-related memorabilia, promote the drink's availability, and get together for parades.
Jannson, who works at a winery, describes Moxie as a “root beer on steroids,” and likes to pour the beverage in a chilled pilsner glass.
“Someone who has the moxie, the spunk, and the courage to go after the big brands can do it,” said Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, a marketing firm in New York City, to the newspaper. “Who better to do it than a soft drink named Moxie?”