The only thing this does is make me homesick Scroll down the blog to sing along with the strange "Faygo dude"

DETROIT – Chauncey Wilson took huge gulps of grape Faygo as he bounced his head while walking and listening to his MP3 player on a west side street.
“It’s not a bad drink,” the 19-year-old Detroiter said. “And isn’t it like a hundred (years old)?”
Exactly right.
Faygo is celebrating its 100th anniversary and is posting thank-you messages to customers on billboards across the United States even as the Detroit institution works to keep a modern edge.
The company could soon add beverages other than pop.

It is seeking new brands and products “for all consumer beverages to add to Faygo,” Executive Vice President Al Chittaro said. “Faygo is looking into enhancement waters, lemonade, teas and energy drinks.”

These would be the latest weapons in Faygo’s battle to hold its spot against big beverage brands, such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola.

“We’re competing against two of the best-known consumer goods companies in the world,” Chittaro said, noting that flavored drinks are becoming more desirable than colas. “And it’s fun competing against those guys.”

Faygo’s owner, National Beverage Corp., declined to disclose sales and production numbers for the brand.

Florida-based National Beverage purchased Faygo in 1987. The company also owns Shasta, LaCroix and PowerBlasts beverages.

Faygo was founded by Russian immigrant bakers Ben and Perry Feigenson, who used cake-frosting recipes to cook up the carbonated soft drink.

Once called Feigenson, the beverage company’s name was shortened to Faygo because the original name was too long for the bottle, said marketing director Matthew Rosenthal, grandson of Ben Feigenson.

The brothers began bottling fruit punch, strawberry and grape soda in 1907.

Faygo’s popularity peaked in the late 1960s, when its commercials were broadcast during Detroit Tigers games.

“The effect of that was huge,” Rosenthal said recently. “None of the other competitors were doing much in that area, and this carried out then into Toledo, up to Grand Rapids ... and throughout the state because that was where the broadcast went.”

Faygo’s home is still the Detroit building at 3579 Gratiot it’s been in since 1935. The company grew from a handful of employees to roughly 400 workers today.

“We’ve lasted 100 years primarily because we make great products,” Chittaro said. “So we’ll continue to be innovative with new flavors.”

Once sold only in Detroit because of limited shelf life, a contracted chemist determined that Faygo had limited freshness because of non-harmful ingredients in the water.

The company established a water purification system to extend shelf life, and now more than 40 flavors are sold in 32 states. Most are east of the Mississippi River. Faygo is sold in many Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky stores, including Kroger, Meijer, bigg's and Remke Markets.

All the while, Faygo remains a prominent fixture for Detroit.

“I always wish that I could own the Faygo corporation,” said Richard Chambers, 21, of West Bloomfield, Mich. “I come from Detroit and it’s so sweet to drink such a high-quality soda coming from a place where I was born. And it’s cheap!”

A 2-liter bottle of Faygo costs $1.19 at some stores while the same size bottle of Pepsi or Coke is about $1.49.

Labels: Michigan, Shout Outs