NEW BERN, N.C. (WITN) – On the corner of Middle Street and Pollock Street in New Bern, one of the biggest brands in the world was created. <\/p>\n
In 1893, a local pharmacist named Caleb Bradham developed what would eventually become Pepsi-Cola.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe good thing to know about Caleb Bradham is that he was just a local entrepreneur,\u201d said Sabrina Bengel, managing partner of the Birthplace of Pepsi in New Bern. \u201cThat is the story of success across our country, across small-town America. Here is a man with an idea trying to help his customer base.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bradham originally set out to create a digestive aid for his customers. He first called his creation Brad\u2019s Drink before renaming it Pepsi-Cola in 1898. As its popularity grew at the pharmacy, he turned it into a business. In 1905, the first bottling franchises were established in Charlotte and Durham.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, Pepsi is this multi-billion dollar, worldwide brand today, but it started right on this corner, right in this very historic town by a very local person,\u201d Bengel said.<\/p>\n
Pepsi\u2019s early growth was cut short when the United States entered World War I. The price of sugar rose dramatically, and Bradham purchased large quantities at a higher price. When the war ended and sugar prices crashed, Bradham could not recover from the expense. He declared bankruptcy in 1923 and left the business.<\/p>\n
In 1931, Charles Guth bought the brand and recipe. Guth moved the entire Pepsi operation to New York and helped grow the brand into what it is today. One of his early moves was selling Pepsi in 12-ounce bottles for the same price \u2014 a nickel \u2014 that competitors charged for 6-ounce bottles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat Coke was doing, what Pepsi had been doing was they were selling it in 6 oz bottles, but he decided to sell it in a 12 oz bottle for the same price, which was a nickel,\u201d Bengel said.<\/p>\n
Bradham died in 1934 and never saw any of Pepsi\u2019s modern success.<\/p>\n
Although Guth moved Pepsi\u2019s operations north, the brand\u2019s connection to Eastern Carolina did not end. In 1923, the Minges family relocated to the region and entered the bottling business in Greenville.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were sweet potato farmers, and they migrated from Statesville, North Carolina, down to Greenville,\u201d said Miles Minges, co-president of Minges Bottling Group. \u201cThey actually opened up a Crush company, you know, they started bottling Orange Crush.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1935, M.O. Minges and his brother L.L. purchased the Pepsi brand for their bottling company and began bottling Pepsi in Eastern Carolina \u2014 including in New Bern, the brand\u2019s birthplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt kept it alive. It brought it back, in essence, to New Bern,\u201d Bengel said. \u201cIt kept it alive for us to be able to tell this story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brothers Miles and Landon Minges now serve as co-presidents of Minges Bottling Group. The company operates as a distributor for the brand across 13 counties.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable. The fact that the family can resonate with the trademark that\u2019s almost 100 years old is pretty special,\u201d Miles Minges said.<\/p>\n
Landon Minges said the family remains committed to the communities where Pepsi began.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an area where we feel like we want to stay involved in and support the community, especially New Bern, the birthplace of Pepsi,\u201d Landon Minges said.<\/p>\n
In 1998, the building where Bradham\u2019s pharmacy once stood was transformed into the Birthplace of Pepsi store, where it remains today. Visitors from around the world come to try the drink the old-fashioned way.<\/p>\n
Bengel said it\u2019s all thanks to Bradham\u2019s passion all those years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, I call his name many times when I\u2019m here by myself late in the evening,\u201d Bengel said. \u201cI say, \u2018Caleb, if you\u2019re here, do you know what you\u2019ve built?\u2019 I think he would be pretty amazed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Birthplace of Pepsi store is open every day except Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 WITN. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW BERN, N.C. (WITN) – On the corner of Middle Street and Pollock Street in New Bern, one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[10],"tags":[15244,1117,25472,104,25481,25482,25476,25484,25483,25479,25474,11757,25478,25480,25477,8620,25475,967,25473,3008,15414,5377,28,6442,25471,8643],"class_list":["post-44150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bern","tag-15244","tag-america","tag-anniversary","tag-bern","tag-birth","tag-birthplace","tag-bottling","tag-bradham","tag-caleb","tag-carolina","tag-cola","tag-east","tag-eastern","tag-ecu","tag-greenville","tag-group","tag-minges","tag-new","tag-old","tag-people","tag-pepsi","tag-place","tag-the","tag-university","tag-we","tag-years"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116343869445662204","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}