Dr Pepper says goodbye to Dublin

DUBLIN, Texas (KXAN) - A 90-minute drive from where Dr Pepper was first introduced to Texas, and eventually to the world, a Dublin tradition will meet its end as the oldest bottler for the brand.

Dublin Dr Pepper’s 121-year history of bottling Dr Pepper, sweetened with cane sugar, came to an end Wednesday after a trademark dispute that began last summer.

In a statement on its website, Dublin Dr Pepper said, “Dublin Bottling Works and Dr Pepper Snapple Group reached an agreement in January 2012 that transferred the bottling and distribution rights for Dr Pepper products to Dr Pepper Snapple Group.”

Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc will make a Dr Pepper sweetened with cane sugar that it will distribute to certain parts of Texas, but the “nostalgic packaging” won’t carry the Dublin label.

“Our main focus has always been on protecting the strength and integrity of the Dr Pepper trademark,” Rodger L. Collins, president of packaged beverages at Dr Pepper Snapple, said Wednesday in a WSJ interview .

Dublin Dr Pepper, available mainly throughout Texas in small, 8-ounce packaged versions and some fountain varieties, has been bottled and distributed for decades in Dublin, a place many consider “Dr Pepper, Texas.”  In Austin, Torchy's Tacos serves the Dublin Dr Pepper from the fountain.

"The only difference is that it had the Dublin name on the bottle," Dr Pepper Snapple's Director of Corporate Affairs, Gregg Artkop said. "We purchased their related assets and will distribute it in 6 Texas counties."

The bottling facility in Dublin has played host to as many as 95,000 tourists a year. A bulk of the bottling, however, has been contracted out to an independent bottler in Temple, Texas, just near Waco.

Dr Pepper, as the brand, celebrated the 125th anniversary of its debut at Morrison’s Old Corner Drugstore in Waco. In 2010 its foodservice volume grew 5 percent, based in large part on increased Dr Pepper availability. All told, Dr Pepper bottler case sales volume increased 3 percent last year.

Dr Pepper Snapple in a recent annual report said, “Dr Pepper is now available in virtually all of the nearly 14,000 McDonald’s® restaurants in the United States, and Diet Dr Pepper nearly quintupled its availability there.”

On the company website Dublin Dr Pepper says it will continue to sell the drink at the site for Old Doc’s Soda Shop. “The same Dr Pepper made with pure cane sugar is still available for sale in Dublin, although Dublin Bottling Works no longer bottles Dr Pepper products.”

The W.P. Kloster Museum and Dublin Bottling Works will continue to make Triple XXX Root Beer, NuGrape and SunCrest sodas.

"Dublin is one of our most heralded cities. We have a lot of respect for them," Artkop said.

Fourteen employees of Dublin Dr Pepper were hit closer to home, as news of the agreement came yesterday, those workers were let go.