Food for Thought

I love grocery stores. All the different logos, brands and flavors. I’ve always had a strange interest in how these products started, evolved and how they try to differentiate from the competition (maybe that’s why I’m a marketing guy).

I also love fun facts. Fun fact: my first job was as a grocery store bagger (paper or plastic, mam?).

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Here are 25 fun facts about your favorite candies, sodas, snacks and fast-food chains:

1. Chick-Fil-A started because of a rejected chicken breast shipment to Delta Airlines. The chicken breasts were too large for Delta’s meal trays, so the supplier offered them to Truett Cathy, who owned the Dwarf Grill near the Atlanta airport. Cathy eventually developed the chicken breasts into the signature Chick-Fil-A sandwich.

2. Chick-Fil-A sandwiches were originally licensed though Waffle House locations – until they started outselling the waffles. Truett Cathy eventually opened his own store (in a local mall).

3. The Oreo is a knockoff. The Hydrox cookie came first in 1908. In 1912, Nabisco launched the Oreo – and through better marketing and distribution (including a much better name) – it became much more successful.

4. Ben & Jerry’s originally wanted to open up a bagel shop – but the equipment was too expensive, so they chose ice cream instead.

5. The Dairy Queen Blizzard was inspired by the Concrete at Ted Drewes Frozen Custard in St. Louis. Sam Temperato, a Dairy Queen franchisee in St. Louis, drew inspiration from Ted Drewes in creating the Blizzard in 1985.

6. One more St. Louis related fact: 7UP was created in St. Louis by Charles Leiper Grigg. It was the original lemon-lime soda. Coca-Cola created Sprite in response.

7. Grigg originally set out to create an orange soda, but pivoted when Orange Crush started taking over the market. The original name for 7UP? Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda.

8. Hires Root Beer was the first nationally distributed soft drink in the U.S. It was originally called Root Tea before a friend suggested changing it to Root Beer to appeal to a wider audience.

9. Starbucks initially sold just coffee beans, not drinks. The director of marketing, Howard Schultz, recommended turning it into a coffee shop. The founders rejected his idea, so he left and started his own coffee shop, Il Giornale. Schultz later bought Starbucks from the original founders and turned it into a global coffee giant.

10. Piggly Wiggly, founded in Memphis, was the first grocery store to let customers pick out their own items. Kroger, founded in Cincinnatti, was the first grocery store to combine a bakery, meat counter and produce into one store.

11. Miller Lite was the original light beer (at least the first light beer that became popular nationwide). Anheuser-Busch’s first light beer? Natural Light. It was launched before both Michelob and Bud Light.

12. Quaker Oats financed the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie to get into the candy business and introduce the Wonka Candy line. The movie initially flopped, but later became a classic. One of the candies featured in the movie that still exists today? The Everlasting Gobstopper.

13. Speaking of Gobstoppers, the idea for Nerds was formed when an employee noticed small, crushed pieces stuck at the bottom of the Gobstopper machine.

14. The name Pizza Hut was created out of necessity. The sign the founders had only had space for eight letters and they wanted pizza in the name.

15. Dr Pepper was created one year before Coca-Cola in Waco, Texas.

16. Leo Hirschfield, who created the Tootsie Roll, also created the first successful gelatin dessert mix called Bromangelon. Jell-O copied the product – and with better marketing and distribution – had huge success.

17. Reese’s were created by a former Hershey employee that left to start making his own candy. Peanut butter and chocolate seems like an obvious combination now, but it was revolutionary at the time.

18. Domino’s was originally called DomiNick’s, but the owner wouldn’t let them keep the name once they started expanding. An employee recommended Domino’s and the three dots on the logo represent the three Domino’s stores at the time.

19. Kellogg’s tried to best Cheerios, the best-selling cereal, with a cereal called OKs. It flopped. In response, they got rid of the K’s, kept the O’s and turned them into different colors. They called them Froot Loops.

20. In response to Froot Loops, Post essentially looked at Rice Krispies and Froot Loops and combined them to create…Fruity Pebbles.

21. Ben & Jerry’s were the first to popularize chocolate chip cookie dough in ice cream based on a fan suggestion. They turned to fan ideas after Nabisco said they were no longer allowed to use Oreos in their ice cream.

22. Ever heard of Schlitz beer? Schlitz was the best-selling beer in the U.S. until it was overtaken by Anheuser-Busch in the late 1950’s.

23. Burger King, which started in Jacksonville, was originally called Insta-Burger King. Dunkin Donuts was originally called Open Kettle. Olive Garden? It was originally called Olive Tree.

24. Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s, previously worked for KFC and created the iconic red and white KFC bucket.

25. What does M&M’s stand for? Mars and Murrie. Forrest Mars was the son of the founder of Mars and Bruce Murrie was the son of a Hershey exec. They partnered to create M&M’s after Forrest saw Spanish soldiers eating sugar-coated chocolates that didn’t melt in the heat.