Cheerwine - Overview and History

Overview and History

When the Maysville Syrup Company of Maysville, Kentucky went bankrupt in 1917, L.D. Peeler and other invested businessmen moved the company to North Carolina and renamed it the Carolina Beverage Corporation. That same year, Peeler purchased a recipe for a cherry flavored soda from a Saint Louis flavor salesman, which eventually became Cheerwine. Though it had been around since 1917, Cheerwine first became a registered trademark in 1926.

Cheerwine has a mildly sweet flavor with strong cherry notes, most notably black cherry; is burgundy-colored, and has an unusually high degree of carbonation compared to other soft drinks. The product was named for its color and taste; the company website states that "it made sense to name a burgundy-red, bubbly, cherry concoction—Cheerwine." The "Retro Cheerwine" variant is sold in glass bottles and is sweetened with cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. Despite its name, Cheerwine is not really a wine and contains no alcohol.

The company also markets Cheerwine flavored ice cream, sherbet, and cream bars, mainly in Food Lion, a Salisbury-based supermarket chain. A commercially-baked Cheerwine cake, based on an old Southern recipe, became available through a Salisbury-based company in 2008.

In 2009, the company began a re-branding campaign designed to revamp the drink's image, especially among younger consumers. The re-branding called for a redesign of the Cheerwine packaging, with a new, retro-style logo based on an early Cheerwine logo.

Cheerwine partnered with the North Carolina-based donut company, Krispy Kreme, and released a limited-offered Cheerwine flavored donut on July 1, 2010. It was only offered at select grocery stores for the month of July, and at the Salisbury Krispy Kreme; after July 31, this was the only place to get them. The Cheerwine doughnut returned for July 2011.

Morgan Shepherd ran an entry in the Nascar Busch Series (now the Nationwide Series) in the mid-1990s with Cheerwine sponsorship.