While massive beverage conglomerates like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo dominate store shelves across America, a handful of regional soda makers still cling fiercely to their independence. These aren’t just brands refusing buyouts on principle. They’re family legacies, local icons, and stubborn reminders that not everything needs to be owned by a multinational corporation to survive.
The craft soda market was valued at nearly 700 million dollars in 2023 and is projected to reach over 1.2 billion by 2032, proving there’s still appetite for alternatives to the corporate giants. Yet staying independent in an industry where consolidation seems inevitable takes more than just good intentions.
Cheerwine: The Southern Cherry Classic Still in Family Hands
Created in 1917, Cheerwine claims to be the oldest continuing soft drink company still operated by the same family. The 107-year-old company is still privately owned and managed by the same founding family, five generations of whom have worked there. That’s not just impressive. It’s practically unheard of in the beverage industry.
L.D. Peeler created Cheerwine in 1917 in Salisbury, North Carolina amid a sugar shortage, using wild cherry flavor that blended well with other flavors. When asked if Cheerwine would consider selling out, CEO Cliff Ritchie’s response was a quick no. He points out that it is rare for a family-owned company to survive past the third generation, much less the fifth.
Boylan Bottling: New York’s Craft Soda Pioneer
Established in 1891, Boylan Bottling is an independent, family-owned brand known for its exceptional craft sodas made in the USA. Operating out of New York City for well over a century, Boylan has watched countless competitors get swallowed up by corporate giants while maintaining its autonomy.
Boylan Bottling Company specializes in premium glass bottle cane sugar sodas and has built a robust distribution channel and loyal customer base throughout the Northeastern U.S. Their partnership model with other independent brands like Cheerwine shows how regional players can collaborate without surrendering ownership. The strategic partnership aims to expand Cheerwine’s presence in the region while leveraging both companies’ commitment to quality.
The Complicated Case of Vernors: Detroit’s Bittersweet Legacy
Here’s where the independence story gets murky. Vernors is an American brand of vanilla ginger ale owned by Keurig Dr Pepper that was first served in 1866, making it the oldest surviving ginger ale in the United States. The Vernor family sold the company to an investment group in 1966, ending nearly a century of family ownership.
In 1985, the flagship Detroit bottling plant was shut down, and the local rights to bottle Vernors were granted to Pepsi-Cola, marking a departure from the brand’s Detroit roots. Despite multiple ownership changes, Vernors maintains regional loyalty. Keurig Dr Pepper states that Vernors is a beloved brand with a rich history and they’re committed to continuing to produce high-quality ginger ale.
Faygo: Detroit’s Pop That Stayed Put (Mostly)
Faygo is a soft drink company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Beverage Corporation, founded in Detroit in 1907. TreeSweet Products Corp bought the company from the Feigenson family in 1986 for 105 million dollars, then sold it to National Beverage Corp a year later.
Unlike other local beverages like Vernors, which moved production out of the city decades ago, Faygo continues to thrive in its hometown. As of 2025, there are 57 beverage options offered by Faygo. While technically corporate-owned, National Beverage operates differently than the Coca-Cola or Pepsi model, allowing Faygo to maintain its Detroit identity and quirky regional character.
Big Red: Texas’s Fiercely Independent Soda (With Asterisks)
Big Red was created in 1937 by Grover C. Thomsen, R.H. Roark and Robert Montes in Waco, Texas. The brand has long positioned itself as Texas’s own soda. Dr Pepper Snapple Group acquired a minority stake in Big Red in 2008, deepening a distribution partnership, though Big Red is produced and distributed by various independent bottlers under license from Big Red, Inc., based in Austin, Texas.
In 2007, Gary Smith acquired the company through Big Red Group Holdings with financial backing from Citigroup Venture Capital and Goldman Sachs, and under his leadership pursued aggressive expansion. The ownership structure is complex, but Big Red maintains operational independence despite corporate investment partnerships.
The Harsh Reality: True Independence Is Rare
Let’s be real. Most beloved regional sodas have been absorbed into corporate portfolios. The beverage industry operates on economies of scale that make independence brutally difficult. Distribution networks, bottling infrastructure, and marketing budgets favor consolidation.
Some literature adds that craft soda producers need to be authentic and small, even local market only, and independent of major soft drink companies, though big companies are trying to capitalize on the popularity of these types of drinks. The question isn’t whether corporate giants want to buy regional brands. They absolutely do. The question is whether family owners can resist offers that would set up multiple generations financially.
Cheerwine and Boylan Bottling stand as remarkable exceptions. Their continued independence in 2026 proves it’s possible, though increasingly uncommon, for regional soda brands to chart their own course. Whether that independence can survive another generation remains to be seen.
