September 30, 2025 • 39 mins
This international brand of root beer, other sodas, and fast-food joints goes back over a century to a single root beer stand along a veterans’ parade route. Anney and Lauren dip into the history and cultures of A&W.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello, and welcome to Saber Prediction of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Annie Reason and I'm more in vogel Baum and
today we have an episode for you about A and
W root beer and restaurants.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Yes, I'm not currently a sponsor.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
No, nope, nopeurs Uh okay, So Annie, I'd like to
start this out with a question for you.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Have you had root beer yet?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Because I think the last time that we were talking
about root beer, you professed that you had never tasted
such a thing.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I still have never tasted such a thing.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
I believe that I had an opportunity and I didn't
take it.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Okay, it's still it'll happen. It will mechanically certainly. Well, okay,
so I have fallen down. I've failed you, Annie. Uh,
but we're gonna We're gonna rectify this. It's going to happen.
I I understand that you have a little bit of
uh doctor Pepper related anxiety because you hate doctor Pepper
(01:11):
so much despise it. Also not currently a sponsor.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
No, we had tipped it, and believe it or not,
they didn't go for it.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
I love doctor Pepper.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I was like, sure they didn't like our ad read
where an He was like, I hate it.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
I think it would have been funny. I think it
would us. Yeah, but anyway, yes.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
I do have anxiety root beer based doctor pepper based
root beer anxiety.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
It's not it's not very similar, but I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Well, I also have never been to anw perhaps because
of this.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Well, they don't.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I think the furthest south that the restaurants go is
like Tennessee, So you'd have to go out of your
way a little bit too from from our home base
in Atlanta to find to find such a thing.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
But no, Well, was there any particular.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Reason this was on your mind, Lauren?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I think that I had just had it in our
in our ideas sheet for a long time because it's
a brand that I grew up with and have very
fond memories of and uh and was looking for a
brand to cover and I was like, oh, yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Let's let's talk about that.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
It's sort of it's it's a sort of like very
summer related group of memories for me because I used
to go with my grandparents when I was visiting them
during the summer and we were on road trips and
so yeah, so kind of like end of summer feels
is what I've got about the whole thing that makes sense.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
It was really fun to read about, but you know
that whole kind of root your float Oh yeah, hamburger fry,
I mean yeah, very summer, very summary vibes.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Oh I love our root beer float.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
I understand a lot of people do. I might as well.
I'm gonna be open minded.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
We'll have to Okay, all right, we're gonna fix this.
You can see our other episodes about root beer. Yes,
perhaps soft drinks in general. We've done one on burgers,
fried chicken, hot dogs, other fast food franchises like McDonald's
(03:31):
and Pizza Hut. I guess sure, like yeah thematically.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yeah, i'd say so KFC.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I guess oh yeah, yeah, absolutely, h Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
We'll talk about that more later. But I guess that
brings us to our question.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
It does and W.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
What is it? Well?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
And W is a brand of root beer and also
fast food burger joints.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
So okay.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
There are three main companies at play when you talk
about A and W. The soda brand, the American owned
restaurant franchise which controls the locations in Asia as well,
and the Canadian owned restaurant franchise. We'll go into plenty
of detail.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Don't worry.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
As a soda brand, they have root beer cream soda
and zero sugar versions of both right now. They've got
limited addition ice cream Sunday flavors with like vanilla and
fudge flavoring in there as well. I don't know anyway,
The soft drink company is owned by Kirig Doctor Pepper.
They own root beer dot com. Bless how nice for them.
(04:40):
Just someone in like nineteen ninety three was like, let's
get on that.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Smart It was.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, yeah, I have to say they're not doing a
whole lot with it, but anyway, like get in touch
with me. I've got ideas. Their base root beer is
on the like creamy and sweets and is caffeine free.
At their restaurants that root beer is typically served in
a frosty chilled glass mug without ice.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Very specific.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
They even have like a mini mug for serving kids drinks. Anyway,
the restaurant's food varies a bit based on location and ownership,
but it's pretty standard like burgers, you know, like breaded
fried chicken products, French fries, ice cream products, stuff like that.
They are a very classic nostalgic, just fixture sort of
(05:34):
brand that that just does what they do and like
keeps on, doesn't it.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
You know?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
To me anw is very Sepia towned. Like the drink
and the experience of their restaurant are just a just
a warm rush, like like the like the air when
you get into a hot car, followed by the cool
refreshment when you get the breeze through the window and
(06:05):
crank up the ac.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Yeah, they've got.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
A classic almost vibe of like, yes, what we are, Yeah,
we understand what we are.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Yeah, this is what we're doing.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And you know you want it?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yes, yes?
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Oh goodness.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Okay, So we're going to be focusing mostly on the
restaurants here because the as a soda brand like Kirig
Doctor Pepper, is a little bit more buttoned up about
their stuff. But uh, but we've got a few notes.
But but okay, So, so the restaurants. The American owned
restaurant franchise runs operations in the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan,
(06:50):
and Bangladesh.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
They've been in other.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Asia Pacific areas, but I think I think that's what
they're up to right now. The business isn't fact owned
by franchisees, and they are apparently the only US restaurant
chain owned entirely by franchisees.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Love this.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
They're headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, and everyone who works at
the headquarters has to work a shift in one of
their restaurants every quarter. I like that.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
At their American restaurants, they serve burgers I think smash
style with like thin double patties, then chicken tenders, hot
dogs with or without chili sides, including fries, chili fries,
thick cut onion rings, breaded fried cheese curds. Curious about those, right, yeah,
(07:41):
and also corn dog nuggets, then soft served ice cream
desserts including milkshakes, cones and sundaes, root beer and Pepsi
soda products, and of course root beer floats. Their signature
burger is called the Papa Burger. It's got a sesame
seed bun, two beef patties, two slices of American cheese,
let us tomato, onion pickle, and Papa sauce, which is
(08:03):
their signature sauce. It looks like a like a ketchup
Mayo with other seasonings kind of thing, you know, yeah,
vaguely thousand island deep. They usually have a couple of
seasonal menu items, like right now, they've got a pumpkin
pie shake and a chicken and waffle combo meal.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Oh wow, yeah, right right.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
One of their sticks is that the restaurants make their
root beer in house, like, not just from like a
syrup concentrate plus soda water like. They actually mix the
different proprietary flavorings and cane sugar and water and then
add carbonation. It is a specialty job. It apparently takes
(08:45):
like forty five minutes to put together. I understand that
some franchises do streamline that, but anyway, the Canadian chain
is operated independently, and the menu is different. I mean,
you know, it's still essentially like fast food burger joint stuff,
but the burger patties look thicker. The signature sauce called
(09:07):
teen sauce appears to be Mayo. I don't know, y'all,
y'all tell me, I'm not sure.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
And they've got this whole family of burger sizes, so
like Papa is double patty, Mama is single teen, and
Uncle feature bacon with different patty sizes. Buddy is a
smaller patty.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
They also do fried chicken patty sandwiches and vegetarian options.
They've got a faux meat burger, a fried potato patty sandwich,
and breaded fried paneer and veg patty sandwiches. Someone tell
me how those are. I need to know immediately.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
I'm very curious about that.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Right.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Oh, like America, what are we doing? Like, why don't
we have fast food panier sandwiches?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Falling behind goodness?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
They've also got like a peery PEERI sauce on offer,
Nashville hot chicken sandwich. I love that that's made its
way to Canada. Also breakfast options. They do not have
chili fries, but they do have poutine. You can get
a side of gravy. They don't have ice cream, so
there's no root beer floats, but they do have a
(10:23):
few milkshakes and other frozen drinks, including a root beer milkshake. Interesting.
Some locations have both hot and chilled espresso drinks. Their
Canadian restaurants serve Coca cola. Oh right, right, yeah, I
think I did an actual pearl clutch. When I read that,
(10:45):
I like gasped. I was like, oh so interesting. Their
Asian menus are again different. The sandwiches look to be
closer to the Canadian style, but I'm not sure. They've
also got a fried fish sandwich. Singapore locations carry these
(11:09):
specialty sandwiches with either a burger or a fried chicken
patty made with a slice of chicken based bacon. Yeah,
like like benn and crispy chicken bacon, caramelized onions, an
onion ring, lettuce, tomato, mayo special sauce, and a thick
(11:30):
slice of cream cheese.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Super producer Andrew just died.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I I don't.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I've never I'd never thought about putting like a slice
of cream cheese on a burger before.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
I have not either. That's innovative, I guess I want
to say.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Yeah, I'm horrified and curious.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
They also do hot dogs, which they specific call Koney's,
which I find fascinating. They do have chili. Singapore has
chili cheese fries. Their fries are curly. They also have
bone in fried chicken oh, which I assume is a
response to KFC.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Oh. Also interesting.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Yeah yeah. Uh. Malaysia, for example, also has chicken nuggets
and tater tots. They've currently got a rendang sandwich like
a burger or fried chicken patty topped with looks like lettuce, onion, mayo,
and then like a scoop of beef rendang stew. I'm like,
all right, all right, yeah, listeners, let us know we
(12:47):
are falling behind.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Desserts include waffles and scooped ice cream, though you can
also for dessert just get a waffle with butter and syrup,
which is interesting because in America that is a breakfast food,
not a dessert food. But I love it. Of course,
they have root beer and they have floats. The Japanese
menu is similar but a little more varied. They do
have those sandwiches with the cream cheese. There's tara Yaki burger.
(13:13):
The bacon appears to be soft like, more like a
Canadian bacon style. The chicken batter appears to be Tempora esque.
They have a sandwich that's on Texas toast with bacon,
mashed potatoes, American cheese, and mayo.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I'm at a loss for words.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I'm not saying I wouldn't eat it, but I you can.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Get aside a soup.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
They have both chili fries and poutine.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Love that.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
You can get a side of mashed potatoes, crinkle fries.
They've got regular fries, curly fries, and crinkle fries. They
have housemade potato chips. The chips can also come like
nacho style with pulled pork, chopped tomato and onion pickles
and a creamy sauce and a spicy sauce.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
I don't know, man.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
They have soft serve and a few baked goods. They
do breakfast plates which appear to include like a yogurt parfe,
pancakes or waffles or toast that soft bacon, a side salad,
and a scoop of mashed potatoes.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Hmmm.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
They also have dinner plates that include rice and a stew,
either pulled pork or a curry, plus other sides. And
in addition to root beer, it seems that some kind
of orange drink is really popular in A and W
Japan listeners.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
You've got to write in all of.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
This is so fascinating to me.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
This is why we always say, like, even if I
don't eat McDonald's in another country, I go in and
look at.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Them look it because right because I'm like, what are
you up to? This is great? Again and again I
think that a lot of like I think that the
mashed potatoes is based on kfcuh, and I just can't
figure out exactly what's going on, but I adore it.
They're the American owned restaurants, including in Asia Pacific. Their
(15:10):
slogan is all American Food. One of their Canadian owned
restaurants slogans is Canada's original burger chain.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
All right, okay, and uh.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I guess not strictly food related. But their brand mascot
is this like cartoony brown bear named Rudy. He's a
root bear. Yeah, maybe love okay, And he wears an
(15:45):
orange sweater and this little orange cap with like a
little white pom pom. Very cute.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Mm hmm. Wow. What about the nutrition do.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Not Eat franchises or soda industry brands. Yeah, the nutrition
of the stuff at their restaurants is, you know, it's
burger joint stuff. Treats are nice treat yes, yes, root
beer floats are very nice.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Oh gosh. The cravings, all the cravings.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
Oh well, people have enjoyed their offerings, and we have
a lot of numbers to support that.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
We do. We do.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
As of twenty eighteen, the American owned restaurants, we're serving
some thirteen million, five hundred and ninety four thousand, seven
hundred slices of bacon via bacon cheeseburgers specifically every year.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Wow, that is that's so fantastic. Somebody looked into that.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yeah yeah, yeah. Also in the US, in the US alone,
because that's the only place where they served the cheese curds,
they were serving over two million pounds of cheese cards.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
In between the US and Asia, they were serving over
a million gallons of root beer. The estimated investment for
starting up an ANW franchise in the United States ranges
from on the low end two hundred and ninety eight
eight hundred and ninety nine dollars for a location like
(17:32):
in an airport are similar, and then on the high end,
one million, six hundred and thirty nine thou nine hundred
and six dollars for a free standing location.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
That is.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I love the precision. I mention this because of the
and six dollars.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
Oh yeah, you know, if there was like a really dramatic,
attic series on TV about this, we only need six
more dollars, what.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Can we do?
Speaker 2 (18:08):
So fun? The Canadian chain has some one thousand and
sixty locations. It is the second largest fast food burger
chain in Canada and the third largest restaurant brand in
general in Canada, which I had no idea. I did
not know it was a thing. As of twenty twenty four,
(18:32):
there were over eight hundred and fifty restaurant locations around
the US and Asia Pacific, two hundred and thirty of
which were co branded with either KFC or Long John Silvers.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
I have to admit I almost went on a Long
John Silvers. It was very hard for me not to
go a rabbit hole.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
I'm gonna have to be a separate episode. We can, oh, absolutely,
we cannot cover both land and sea episode.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
We can mere food podcasters.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
But yes, there is a really interesting history behind all
of this.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Oh yeah, this one goes places and we are going
to get into that history after a quick break for
a word from our sponsors, and we're back.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you so again.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
See our root beer episode, because there's a really long
history behind root beer. But briefly, root beer was the
culmination of a long history of small beers and medicinal
beverages that eventually led to a pharmacist named Charles Elmer Hires,
creating what is often known as the first commercial root beer.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
In eighteen seventy six.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
When it comes to A and W, the company traces
its beginning to a man named Roy w Allen, who
opened a roadside root beer stand in Lodi, California, in
nineteen nineteen, using a recipe that allegedly he purchased from
a retired pharmacist. Reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle recounts
(20:16):
that he set up this stand along the route of
a parade in honor of returning World War One soldiers,
and that he sold cold root beer in chilled mugs
for five cents. Since the parade took place on a
hot day in June, this venture was pretty successful. This
(20:36):
was also when root beer was experiencing a swell of
popularity and prohibition was on the horizon, meaning that folks
were looking for more non alcoholic options. On top of that,
the public was coming out of a flu epidemic and
they were eager to get back out.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Into the world.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
In nineteen twenty two, Alan built on all of that
success and brought in Frank Wright, and they named their
root beer A and W after their last initials.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
However, Allen bought out right in nineteen twenty four.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
By nineteen twenty six, A and W started franchising First
and Sacramento. Some argue that they were the first fast
food chain to do so. They also claimed that they
were the first chain to have a drive through in California.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Their stands had a kids drink free policy, but they
were finding that children literally could not handle the big
glass mugs, so they started making little ones and still
do to this day.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Yes, and at first these restaurants focused on the root beer,
but to increase profits during the Great Depression, they started
offering snacks. It wasn't until the nineteen fifties, though, that
food items became a substantial part of their menu.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Okay, so Bill.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
Marriott and yes that Marriott launched franchises of A and
W and Washington, d C, Baltimore, and Richmond starting in
nineteen twenty seven, so he was quick on the uptake
with this. He along with a business partner, turned this
into the huge hotel conglomerate we know today. Everybody likes
to mention this. There's not too much actually written about it,
(22:19):
but it did happen.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah, that's where Marriott got its start. Yeah, rip your stands.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
A and W went international in nineteen fifty six when
they opened a drive in restaurant in Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Yeah, apparently they were the first national branded restaurant to
operate in a lot of locations around Canada, and their
drive ins specifically were a big part of fifties and
sixties like teen in family culture, as car culture was
on the rise and all of that. But yeah, y'all
rite in.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
Yes, and by the nineteen sixties there were over two
four hundred A and W locations.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
Who Alan retired in nineteen sixty three and the root
beer beverage side of the business was sold off to
the company that had been making it for the restaurants.
They would start bottling it for retail sale in nineteen
seventy one. Meanwhile, on the restaurant end, they started opening
(23:24):
up other international locations during the nineteen sixties, including in Okinawa, Japan,
and in Malaysia in nineteen sixty three and Singapore in
nineteen sixty six. Like these were markets where they beat
McDonald's to the punch.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Yes, and people do rightfully so love comparing.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
Here's where ANNW was, Here's where McDonald's Oh yeah time,
which kind of speaking of ANW claims that their then CEO,
Dale Molder, invented the bacon cheeseburger after customers kept requesting
bacon for their cheeseburgers in nineteen sixty three.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Reading about it, it sounds to me like it was
already a thing.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
Obviously, people were doing it right asking for it, and
they might have been the first vast food chain to
offer it.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
I wasn't there, but that was my take.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
Apparently there were follow up reporters that they were looking
into is this true? That backed up the claim, and
no other chain came forward otherwise when ANW put that
claim in a twenty fourteen ad campaign, So as of now,
no one's disputed it.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
But all right, okay.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
The brand debuted that whole burger family in the nineteen sixties,
with Papa, Mama, teen, and Baby representing differently sized burgers.
All of this also involved cartoony mascots, very mid century,
very yeah. Hannah barmera yes yes.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
And then we get Rudy the Great root Bear was
introduced in nineteen seventy four. You went away for a
bit in the two thousands, but soon came back couldn't
let him go.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Nope, Nope, nope.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
In nineteen seventy two, the Canadian locations were spun off
and sold to the company Unilever, and to this day
they operate independently.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Yeah, they're currently operated out of North Vancouver.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
There's a story from the nineteen eighties that I think
is true where in A and W restaurants tried to
launch a one third pound burger competitively priced the same
as another brand's quarter pounder, and when it didn't sell,
they brought in this market research group which held a
(25:45):
focus group, and it turned out that Americans are confused
by fractions. Most participants in this focus group were like, well,
obviously we're not going to buy a third pound burger
for the same price as a fourth pound burger.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Because because four is big, four is bigger than three. Yeah,
oh no, I read that too. Well. Fractions can be confusing.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
They certainly can, and it gets that story. It gets
passed around as a kind of like marketing, like be
careful to make sure that your message is clear kind
of kind of story. But yeah, the restaurant brand opened
and then closed eight locations in China between nineteen ninety
six and two thousand and four, it sounds like they
(26:40):
just didn't have really great support. They were they were
expanding a lot during that time, and then we're like, oh,
maybe this isn't working out as well as we hoped. Meanwhile,
regarding the soda brand, Cadbury Schweps acquired the brand in
nineteen ninety three, then spun them off to Doctor Pepper Snapple,
(27:00):
which was then acquired by Krig in twenty eighteen. If
you didn't know, c Dodtor Pepper is a single brand,
if you go to their offices and you walk around,
someone will ask you, oh, hey, I haven't seen you before.
Do you work in hot or cold? By which they
mean carrig or Dr Pepper?
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Oh wow, okay, listeners right in. I think I I'd
be shocked. One time I visited Ikea, like their headquarters,
and they asked me some question that I'm sure was
like a that made sense, and I was like, Oh, we.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Got to get out of here. I'm scared this is
some kind of code. I don't like it.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Oh the cure Doctor Pepper people were very nice, not scary.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Of defending Pepper.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
Well, okay, ki, I've related In two thousand KFC's parent company,
which would come to be known as Young Brands, made
an announcement that the chain would be partner with AW
to test out three hundred co branded products over the
course of five years. In two thousand and two, Young
purchased and W, but went on to sell it to
(28:10):
a collection of American franchisees in twenty eleven. After making
their root beer fresh since their inception, and W switched
to a syrup concentrate in the early two thousands to
save space and money. However, they switched back to fresh
in twenty seventeen. And I can only imagine the every
time we do the like the companies changed through recipe.
(28:32):
I'm sure there was a firestorm, big mad yeah. And
speaking of a firestorm, and W Canada found themselves in
some trouble after their better Beef campaign lotched in twenty thirteen.
According to an A and W spokesperson, the ads were
meant to highlight that their beef didn't contain any added
hormones or steroids, but this phrasing understandably frustrated Canadian cattle
(28:55):
farmers who were providing the beef before this, who at
large used very little added hormones. Or none at all,
and those that they did use were safe for human ingestion.
Canadian beef producer's voiced frustration at the word better and
also that it meant that ANW was importing a lot
of beef from outside of Canada. Yes, and then we
(29:17):
get this little fact. In twenty nineteen, a W started
a petition to marri In Webster to quote restore the
ampersand as the twenty seventh letter of the alphabet. The
problem for them and other companies or properties that use
the amber sand in their name is that they can't
use the amber sand in URL addresses or hashtags. As
(29:39):
of recording, the petition has almost eight thousand signatures.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
This was mostly a joke. It was part of their
one hundred year celebration because they had started up in
nineteen nineteen, so twenty nineteen.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
They also that year put out a coffee table book
filled with like basically the equivalent of listener mail. I
asked employees and fans alike to send in stories and photos,
and they published this one hundred and fifty page book
just full of them, you know, first jobs, first dates,
other memories. They donated all proceeds to veterans based on
again that that initial parade, that Veterans Parade that they
(30:19):
opened the stand in. They have continued donating to veterans,
And okay, I wanted to end on that one because
of the obvious connection to listener mail. We love a
good transition here, but then I found this next thing. Okay,
so bucklin' y'all, it is time for some marketing maid yes, Okay.
(30:40):
In twenty twenty four, in W teamed up with the
local jeweler called Timeless Treasures of Kentucky and with the
Life Gem Lab diamond company to create some themed jewelry
for Valentine's Day that year. Life Gem is a company
that uses cremated remains to make diamonds, and so to
(31:07):
promote an w's limited edition quarter pound cod sandwich, they
cremated six of the sandwiches and then used the carbon
to create a one carrot orange colored diamond, which they
set in a ring with smaller stones in the band.
Very pretty and the press release was just amazing. Make
(31:32):
your relationship official, Oh.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Cod cod sandwich. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
The sandwich featured wild caught atlantic cod, a known aphrodisiac. Okay,
a Life Gem co founder was quoted as saying, whether
it's a spouse, a pet, or a quarter pound cod
sandwich from anw we only have a limited amount of
(31:58):
time with the ones we love. A life gem diamond
is the perfect way to memorialize that fleeting love. The
press release ended with and remember every kiss begins with cod, like.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
All right, knocked it out of the park, right, just
no notes.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
I it's so beautiful, whether it's a spouse, a bit
or a quarterbound costs.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Also, also I want to say that the ad, the
photos for this campaign that they run that they ran
were like, you know, like it didn't go out to
like a lot of places, but it was very progressive.
It was it was two ladies posing with this, uh,
with this like like engagement style jewelry, and it was
(33:06):
a black lady and a white lady. And I was like, okay,
that's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Heck yeah, mm hmm. This is excellent. I'm so glad
you brought this to my attention.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
I this has made my days so much better.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Every kiss begins with God, Oh it's it's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
It's really nice.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
It's beautiful.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
It is Oh, well that is what the where we
should end.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
We should end.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
That is everything that I have to say about Ay.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Yes, we do desperately want to hear from from.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
You listeners though, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes absolutely.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
We do already have some listener mail for you though,
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get back from one more quick break for
a word from our sponsors, and we're back.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Thank you sponsor, yes, thank you, and we're back with listeners.
Speaker 4 (34:19):
Nay, final hug to summer, oh yeah to fall yeah
yes okay. So John wrote, I lowed myself to sleep
last night with the Joyce Chen episode. It got me
to thinking, which my wife says is a dangerous thing.
(34:41):
That I went to MIT nineteen sixty eight to nineteen
seventy six BS and PhD in organic chemistry and remember
eating at Joyce Chin, small eating place in Central Square
and Cambridge. Our research group would walk up there for
lunch on a nice day. It was a cafeteria line
manned womaned by young Chinese girls. We got a new
(35:01):
post doc in the group named Peter Chen. During her
first trip with the group to the small eating place,
he went through the line and chatted up the girls
in Chinese on the serving line. There was much giggling
and smiling involved. The result of all of that was
that the girls pould our plates high with food, probably
twice the normal portion. Good Old Peter My stipend at
the time was two hundred and seventy seven dollars and
(35:23):
ninety nine cents per month, so an immense meal really
hit the spot. Fond memories. Oh that's awesome. Oh that's
so cool. Yeah, every time we do those episodes about
somebody who's made a lot of waves or they've done
a lot of things for the food industry, I'm always
(35:45):
sad when I'm like they're not around or I didn't get.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
To go to that thing.
Speaker 4 (35:49):
Yeah right, right, that's cool that you got to go
and have these fond memories of it.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Yeah right, because yeah, I've hung out for a previous
job in Cambridge a little bit, but certainly right that
was not there anymore when I was there, and oh yeah,
that's really sweet, good Old Peter.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (36:10):
Yeah, it's always good to have a friend who can
get you some more food.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Oh right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
I'm not saying it's necessarily the best kind of friend,
but it's a pretty good one.
Speaker 4 (36:21):
It's like, if you're building out your D and D
group or your Apocalypse survival group.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
That's a good friend, Stephanie wrote, I've been a listener
since the beginning of food Stuff, and I love using
your episodes as inspiration when I travel. I recently returned
from a trip to Norway, Finland and Estonia, where I
made sure to try Urlsberg cheese, or as they call it,
Norwegian cheese. Have you heard of brunost? It literally means
(36:49):
brown cheese in Norwegian and it blew my mind. Attached
are some pictures from the oldest cafe in oh I'm
not sure you had to say that, tellin where they
do Marzapan sculpture and painting. The shop is full of
disturbingly realistic models made of Marzapan. I also attached pet
tax my pup Charlie insisting that I throw his toy
(37:09):
avocado for him.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
And yes.
Speaker 2 (37:13):
Attached are oh, my goodness, such realistic photographs or such
photo realistic Marzapan models. All kinds of fruit. There's like
kiwis and plums and bananas and watermelon, also like a lobster. Yeah,
(37:38):
some some little like like figurines of people.
Speaker 4 (37:43):
If I didn't know this was Marzapan, I would think
they look kind of like ceramic figurines.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
They do.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
They look like ceramics. They're beautifully painted.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
Yeah, they are.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
They are a little I believe the subject line of
this email was unsettling. Mars, Yeah, a little unsettling.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
The faces are a little.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
I'm not positive that they're not going to come alive
at night and try to eat my face.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
Always a concern.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
Yes, yes, yes, your.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Mars a pan.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Oh but but Charlie and the avocado. Yes, Charlie, just
a little fluffer nutter, just a just a little buddy,
oh my goodness.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
Yes, and a very insistent face.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
Very as always, pet Tax appreciated, keep them grumming. Thank
you so much to both of these listeners for writing in.
If you would like to write to us, you can
or email us hello at sabrepod dot com.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
We're also on social media.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
You can find us on Instagram and blue Sky at
saber pod and we do hope to hear from you.
Savor is production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts my heart Radio,
you can visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks us always to
our super producers Dylan Fagan and Andrew. Thanks to you
for listening, and we hope that lots more good things
(39:03):
are coming your way.
Hello, and welcome to Saber Prediction of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Annie Reason and I'm more in vogel Baum and
today we have an episode for you about A and
W root beer and restaurants.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Yes, I'm not currently a sponsor.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
No, nope, nopeurs Uh okay, So Annie, I'd like to
start this out with a question for you.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Have you had root beer yet?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Because I think the last time that we were talking
about root beer, you professed that you had never tasted
such a thing.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I still have never tasted such a thing.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
I believe that I had an opportunity and I didn't
take it.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Okay, it's still it'll happen. It will mechanically certainly. Well, okay,
so I have fallen down. I've failed you, Annie. Uh,
but we're gonna We're gonna rectify this. It's going to happen.
I I understand that you have a little bit of
uh doctor Pepper related anxiety because you hate doctor Pepper
(01:11):
so much despise it. Also not currently a sponsor.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
No, we had tipped it, and believe it or not,
they didn't go for it.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
I love doctor Pepper.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I was like, sure they didn't like our ad read
where an He was like, I hate it.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
I think it would have been funny. I think it
would us. Yeah, but anyway, yes.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
I do have anxiety root beer based doctor pepper based
root beer anxiety.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
It's not it's not very similar, but I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Well, I also have never been to anw perhaps because
of this.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Well, they don't.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I think the furthest south that the restaurants go is
like Tennessee, So you'd have to go out of your
way a little bit too from from our home base
in Atlanta to find to find such a thing.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
But no, Well, was there any particular.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Reason this was on your mind, Lauren?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I think that I had just had it in our
in our ideas sheet for a long time because it's
a brand that I grew up with and have very
fond memories of and uh and was looking for a
brand to cover and I was like, oh, yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Let's let's talk about that.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
It's sort of it's it's a sort of like very
summer related group of memories for me because I used
to go with my grandparents when I was visiting them
during the summer and we were on road trips and
so yeah, so kind of like end of summer feels
is what I've got about the whole thing that makes sense.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
It was really fun to read about, but you know
that whole kind of root your float Oh yeah, hamburger fry,
I mean yeah, very summer, very summary vibes.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Oh I love our root beer float.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
I understand a lot of people do. I might as well.
I'm gonna be open minded.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
We'll have to Okay, all right, we're gonna fix this.
You can see our other episodes about root beer. Yes,
perhaps soft drinks in general. We've done one on burgers,
fried chicken, hot dogs, other fast food franchises like McDonald's
(03:31):
and Pizza Hut. I guess sure, like yeah thematically.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yeah, i'd say so KFC.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I guess oh yeah, yeah, absolutely, h Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
We'll talk about that more later. But I guess that
brings us to our question.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
It does and W.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
What is it? Well?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
And W is a brand of root beer and also
fast food burger joints.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
So okay.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
There are three main companies at play when you talk
about A and W. The soda brand, the American owned
restaurant franchise which controls the locations in Asia as well,
and the Canadian owned restaurant franchise. We'll go into plenty
of detail.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Don't worry.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
As a soda brand, they have root beer cream soda
and zero sugar versions of both right now. They've got
limited addition ice cream Sunday flavors with like vanilla and
fudge flavoring in there as well. I don't know anyway,
The soft drink company is owned by Kirig Doctor Pepper.
They own root beer dot com. Bless how nice for them.
(04:40):
Just someone in like nineteen ninety three was like, let's
get on that.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Smart It was.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, yeah, I have to say they're not doing a
whole lot with it, but anyway, like get in touch
with me. I've got ideas. Their base root beer is
on the like creamy and sweets and is caffeine free.
At their restaurants that root beer is typically served in
a frosty chilled glass mug without ice.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Very specific.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
They even have like a mini mug for serving kids drinks. Anyway,
the restaurant's food varies a bit based on location and ownership,
but it's pretty standard like burgers, you know, like breaded
fried chicken products, French fries, ice cream products, stuff like that.
They are a very classic nostalgic, just fixture sort of
(05:34):
brand that that just does what they do and like
keeps on, doesn't it.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
You know?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
To me anw is very Sepia towned. Like the drink
and the experience of their restaurant are just a just
a warm rush, like like the like the air when
you get into a hot car, followed by the cool
refreshment when you get the breeze through the window and
(06:05):
crank up the ac.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Yeah, they've got.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
A classic almost vibe of like, yes, what we are, Yeah,
we understand what we are.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Yeah, this is what we're doing.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And you know you want it?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yes, yes?
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Oh goodness.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Okay, So we're going to be focusing mostly on the
restaurants here because the as a soda brand like Kirig
Doctor Pepper, is a little bit more buttoned up about
their stuff. But uh, but we've got a few notes.
But but okay, So, so the restaurants. The American owned
restaurant franchise runs operations in the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan,
(06:50):
and Bangladesh.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
They've been in other.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Asia Pacific areas, but I think I think that's what
they're up to right now. The business isn't fact owned
by franchisees, and they are apparently the only US restaurant
chain owned entirely by franchisees.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Love this.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
They're headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, and everyone who works at
the headquarters has to work a shift in one of
their restaurants every quarter. I like that.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
At their American restaurants, they serve burgers I think smash
style with like thin double patties, then chicken tenders, hot
dogs with or without chili sides, including fries, chili fries,
thick cut onion rings, breaded fried cheese curds. Curious about those, right, yeah,
(07:41):
and also corn dog nuggets, then soft served ice cream
desserts including milkshakes, cones and sundaes, root beer and Pepsi
soda products, and of course root beer floats. Their signature
burger is called the Papa Burger. It's got a sesame
seed bun, two beef patties, two slices of American cheese,
let us tomato, onion pickle, and Papa sauce, which is
(08:03):
their signature sauce. It looks like a like a ketchup
Mayo with other seasonings kind of thing, you know, yeah,
vaguely thousand island deep. They usually have a couple of
seasonal menu items, like right now, they've got a pumpkin
pie shake and a chicken and waffle combo meal.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Oh wow, yeah, right right.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
One of their sticks is that the restaurants make their
root beer in house, like, not just from like a
syrup concentrate plus soda water like. They actually mix the
different proprietary flavorings and cane sugar and water and then
add carbonation. It is a specialty job. It apparently takes
(08:45):
like forty five minutes to put together. I understand that
some franchises do streamline that, but anyway, the Canadian chain
is operated independently, and the menu is different. I mean,
you know, it's still essentially like fast food burger joint stuff,
but the burger patties look thicker. The signature sauce called
(09:07):
teen sauce appears to be Mayo. I don't know, y'all,
y'all tell me, I'm not sure.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
And they've got this whole family of burger sizes, so
like Papa is double patty, Mama is single teen, and
Uncle feature bacon with different patty sizes. Buddy is a
smaller patty.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
They also do fried chicken patty sandwiches and vegetarian options.
They've got a faux meat burger, a fried potato patty sandwich,
and breaded fried paneer and veg patty sandwiches. Someone tell
me how those are. I need to know immediately.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
I'm very curious about that.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Right.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Oh, like America, what are we doing? Like, why don't
we have fast food panier sandwiches?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Falling behind goodness?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
They've also got like a peery PEERI sauce on offer,
Nashville hot chicken sandwich. I love that that's made its
way to Canada. Also breakfast options. They do not have
chili fries, but they do have poutine. You can get
a side of gravy. They don't have ice cream, so
there's no root beer floats, but they do have a
(10:23):
few milkshakes and other frozen drinks, including a root beer milkshake. Interesting.
Some locations have both hot and chilled espresso drinks. Their
Canadian restaurants serve Coca cola. Oh right, right, yeah, I
think I did an actual pearl clutch. When I read that,
(10:45):
I like gasped. I was like, oh so interesting. Their
Asian menus are again different. The sandwiches look to be
closer to the Canadian style, but I'm not sure. They've
also got a fried fish sandwich. Singapore locations carry these
(11:09):
specialty sandwiches with either a burger or a fried chicken
patty made with a slice of chicken based bacon. Yeah,
like like benn and crispy chicken bacon, caramelized onions, an
onion ring, lettuce, tomato, mayo special sauce, and a thick
(11:30):
slice of cream cheese.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Super producer Andrew just died.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
I I don't.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I've never I'd never thought about putting like a slice
of cream cheese on a burger before.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
I have not either. That's innovative, I guess I want
to say.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Yeah, I'm horrified and curious.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
They also do hot dogs, which they specific call Koney's,
which I find fascinating. They do have chili. Singapore has
chili cheese fries. Their fries are curly. They also have
bone in fried chicken oh, which I assume is a
response to KFC.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Oh. Also interesting.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Yeah yeah. Uh. Malaysia, for example, also has chicken nuggets
and tater tots. They've currently got a rendang sandwich like
a burger or fried chicken patty topped with looks like lettuce, onion, mayo,
and then like a scoop of beef rendang stew. I'm like,
all right, all right, yeah, listeners, let us know we
(12:47):
are falling behind.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Desserts include waffles and scooped ice cream, though you can
also for dessert just get a waffle with butter and syrup,
which is interesting because in America that is a breakfast food,
not a dessert food. But I love it. Of course,
they have root beer and they have floats. The Japanese
menu is similar but a little more varied. They do
have those sandwiches with the cream cheese. There's tara Yaki burger.
(13:13):
The bacon appears to be soft like, more like a
Canadian bacon style. The chicken batter appears to be Tempora esque.
They have a sandwich that's on Texas toast with bacon,
mashed potatoes, American cheese, and mayo.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I'm at a loss for words.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I'm not saying I wouldn't eat it, but I you can.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Get aside a soup.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
They have both chili fries and poutine.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Love that.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
You can get a side of mashed potatoes, crinkle fries.
They've got regular fries, curly fries, and crinkle fries. They
have housemade potato chips. The chips can also come like
nacho style with pulled pork, chopped tomato and onion pickles
and a creamy sauce and a spicy sauce.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
I don't know, man.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
They have soft serve and a few baked goods. They
do breakfast plates which appear to include like a yogurt parfe,
pancakes or waffles or toast that soft bacon, a side salad,
and a scoop of mashed potatoes.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Hmmm.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
They also have dinner plates that include rice and a stew,
either pulled pork or a curry, plus other sides. And
in addition to root beer, it seems that some kind
of orange drink is really popular in A and W
Japan listeners.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
You've got to write in all of.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
This is so fascinating to me.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
This is why we always say, like, even if I
don't eat McDonald's in another country, I go in and
look at.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Them look it because right because I'm like, what are
you up to? This is great? Again and again I
think that a lot of like I think that the
mashed potatoes is based on kfcuh, and I just can't
figure out exactly what's going on, but I adore it.
They're the American owned restaurants, including in Asia Pacific. Their
(15:10):
slogan is all American Food. One of their Canadian owned
restaurants slogans is Canada's original burger chain.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
All right, okay, and uh.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I guess not strictly food related. But their brand mascot
is this like cartoony brown bear named Rudy. He's a
root bear. Yeah, maybe love okay, And he wears an
(15:45):
orange sweater and this little orange cap with like a
little white pom pom. Very cute.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Mm hmm. Wow. What about the nutrition do.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Not Eat franchises or soda industry brands. Yeah, the nutrition
of the stuff at their restaurants is, you know, it's
burger joint stuff. Treats are nice treat yes, yes, root
beer floats are very nice.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Oh gosh. The cravings, all the cravings.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
Oh well, people have enjoyed their offerings, and we have
a lot of numbers to support that.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
We do. We do.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
As of twenty eighteen, the American owned restaurants, we're serving
some thirteen million, five hundred and ninety four thousand, seven
hundred slices of bacon via bacon cheeseburgers specifically every year.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Wow, that is that's so fantastic. Somebody looked into that.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yeah yeah, yeah. Also in the US, in the US alone,
because that's the only place where they served the cheese curds,
they were serving over two million pounds of cheese cards.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
In between the US and Asia, they were serving over
a million gallons of root beer. The estimated investment for
starting up an ANW franchise in the United States ranges
from on the low end two hundred and ninety eight
eight hundred and ninety nine dollars for a location like
(17:32):
in an airport are similar, and then on the high end,
one million, six hundred and thirty nine thou nine hundred
and six dollars for a free standing location.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
That is.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I love the precision. I mention this because of the
and six dollars.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
Oh yeah, you know, if there was like a really dramatic,
attic series on TV about this, we only need six
more dollars, what.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Can we do?
Speaker 2 (18:08):
So fun? The Canadian chain has some one thousand and
sixty locations. It is the second largest fast food burger
chain in Canada and the third largest restaurant brand in
general in Canada, which I had no idea. I did
not know it was a thing. As of twenty twenty four,
(18:32):
there were over eight hundred and fifty restaurant locations around
the US and Asia Pacific, two hundred and thirty of
which were co branded with either KFC or Long John Silvers.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
I have to admit I almost went on a Long
John Silvers. It was very hard for me not to
go a rabbit hole.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
I'm gonna have to be a separate episode. We can, oh, absolutely,
we cannot cover both land and sea episode.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
We can mere food podcasters.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
But yes, there is a really interesting history behind all
of this.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Oh yeah, this one goes places and we are going
to get into that history after a quick break for
a word from our sponsors, and we're back.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you so again.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
See our root beer episode, because there's a really long
history behind root beer. But briefly, root beer was the
culmination of a long history of small beers and medicinal
beverages that eventually led to a pharmacist named Charles Elmer Hires,
creating what is often known as the first commercial root beer.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
In eighteen seventy six.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
When it comes to A and W, the company traces
its beginning to a man named Roy w Allen, who
opened a roadside root beer stand in Lodi, California, in
nineteen nineteen, using a recipe that allegedly he purchased from
a retired pharmacist. Reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle recounts
(20:16):
that he set up this stand along the route of
a parade in honor of returning World War One soldiers,
and that he sold cold root beer in chilled mugs
for five cents. Since the parade took place on a
hot day in June, this venture was pretty successful. This
(20:36):
was also when root beer was experiencing a swell of
popularity and prohibition was on the horizon, meaning that folks
were looking for more non alcoholic options. On top of that,
the public was coming out of a flu epidemic and
they were eager to get back out.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Into the world.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
In nineteen twenty two, Alan built on all of that
success and brought in Frank Wright, and they named their
root beer A and W after their last initials.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
However, Allen bought out right in nineteen twenty four.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
By nineteen twenty six, A and W started franchising First
and Sacramento. Some argue that they were the first fast
food chain to do so. They also claimed that they
were the first chain to have a drive through in California.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Their stands had a kids drink free policy, but they
were finding that children literally could not handle the big
glass mugs, so they started making little ones and still
do to this day.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Yes, and at first these restaurants focused on the root beer,
but to increase profits during the Great Depression, they started
offering snacks. It wasn't until the nineteen fifties, though, that
food items became a substantial part of their menu.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Okay, so Bill.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
Marriott and yes that Marriott launched franchises of A and
W and Washington, d C, Baltimore, and Richmond starting in
nineteen twenty seven, so he was quick on the uptake
with this. He along with a business partner, turned this
into the huge hotel conglomerate we know today. Everybody likes
to mention this. There's not too much actually written about it,
(22:19):
but it did happen.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah, that's where Marriott got its start. Yeah, rip your stands.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
A and W went international in nineteen fifty six when
they opened a drive in restaurant in Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Yeah, apparently they were the first national branded restaurant to
operate in a lot of locations around Canada, and their
drive ins specifically were a big part of fifties and
sixties like teen in family culture, as car culture was
on the rise and all of that. But yeah, y'all
rite in.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
Yes, and by the nineteen sixties there were over two
four hundred A and W locations.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
Who Alan retired in nineteen sixty three and the root
beer beverage side of the business was sold off to
the company that had been making it for the restaurants.
They would start bottling it for retail sale in nineteen
seventy one. Meanwhile, on the restaurant end, they started opening
(23:24):
up other international locations during the nineteen sixties, including in Okinawa, Japan,
and in Malaysia in nineteen sixty three and Singapore in
nineteen sixty six. Like these were markets where they beat
McDonald's to the punch.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Yes, and people do rightfully so love comparing.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
Here's where ANNW was, Here's where McDonald's Oh yeah time,
which kind of speaking of ANW claims that their then CEO,
Dale Molder, invented the bacon cheeseburger after customers kept requesting
bacon for their cheeseburgers in nineteen sixty three.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Reading about it, it sounds to me like it was
already a thing.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
Obviously, people were doing it right asking for it, and
they might have been the first vast food chain to
offer it.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
I wasn't there, but that was my take.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
Apparently there were follow up reporters that they were looking
into is this true? That backed up the claim, and
no other chain came forward otherwise when ANW put that
claim in a twenty fourteen ad campaign, So as of now,
no one's disputed it.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
But all right, okay.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
The brand debuted that whole burger family in the nineteen sixties,
with Papa, Mama, teen, and Baby representing differently sized burgers.
All of this also involved cartoony mascots, very mid century,
very yeah. Hannah barmera yes yes.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
And then we get Rudy the Great root Bear was
introduced in nineteen seventy four. You went away for a
bit in the two thousands, but soon came back couldn't
let him go.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Nope, Nope, nope.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
In nineteen seventy two, the Canadian locations were spun off
and sold to the company Unilever, and to this day
they operate independently.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Yeah, they're currently operated out of North Vancouver.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
There's a story from the nineteen eighties that I think
is true where in A and W restaurants tried to
launch a one third pound burger competitively priced the same
as another brand's quarter pounder, and when it didn't sell,
they brought in this market research group which held a
(25:45):
focus group, and it turned out that Americans are confused
by fractions. Most participants in this focus group were like, well,
obviously we're not going to buy a third pound burger
for the same price as a fourth pound burger.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Because because four is big, four is bigger than three. Yeah,
oh no, I read that too. Well. Fractions can be confusing.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
They certainly can, and it gets that story. It gets
passed around as a kind of like marketing, like be
careful to make sure that your message is clear kind
of kind of story. But yeah, the restaurant brand opened
and then closed eight locations in China between nineteen ninety
six and two thousand and four, it sounds like they
(26:40):
just didn't have really great support. They were they were
expanding a lot during that time, and then we're like, oh,
maybe this isn't working out as well as we hoped. Meanwhile,
regarding the soda brand, Cadbury Schweps acquired the brand in
nineteen ninety three, then spun them off to Doctor Pepper Snapple,
(27:00):
which was then acquired by Krig in twenty eighteen. If
you didn't know, c Dodtor Pepper is a single brand,
if you go to their offices and you walk around,
someone will ask you, oh, hey, I haven't seen you before.
Do you work in hot or cold? By which they
mean carrig or Dr Pepper?
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Oh wow, okay, listeners right in. I think I I'd
be shocked. One time I visited Ikea, like their headquarters,
and they asked me some question that I'm sure was
like a that made sense, and I was like, Oh, we.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Got to get out of here. I'm scared this is
some kind of code. I don't like it.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Oh the cure Doctor Pepper people were very nice, not scary.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Of defending Pepper.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
Well, okay, ki, I've related In two thousand KFC's parent company,
which would come to be known as Young Brands, made
an announcement that the chain would be partner with AW
to test out three hundred co branded products over the
course of five years. In two thousand and two, Young
purchased and W, but went on to sell it to
(28:10):
a collection of American franchisees in twenty eleven. After making
their root beer fresh since their inception, and W switched
to a syrup concentrate in the early two thousands to
save space and money. However, they switched back to fresh
in twenty seventeen. And I can only imagine the every
time we do the like the companies changed through recipe.
(28:32):
I'm sure there was a firestorm, big mad yeah. And
speaking of a firestorm, and W Canada found themselves in
some trouble after their better Beef campaign lotched in twenty thirteen.
According to an A and W spokesperson, the ads were
meant to highlight that their beef didn't contain any added
hormones or steroids, but this phrasing understandably frustrated Canadian cattle
(28:55):
farmers who were providing the beef before this, who at
large used very little added hormones. Or none at all,
and those that they did use were safe for human ingestion.
Canadian beef producer's voiced frustration at the word better and
also that it meant that ANW was importing a lot
of beef from outside of Canada. Yes, and then we
(29:17):
get this little fact. In twenty nineteen, a W started
a petition to marri In Webster to quote restore the
ampersand as the twenty seventh letter of the alphabet. The
problem for them and other companies or properties that use
the amber sand in their name is that they can't
use the amber sand in URL addresses or hashtags. As
(29:39):
of recording, the petition has almost eight thousand signatures.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
This was mostly a joke. It was part of their
one hundred year celebration because they had started up in
nineteen nineteen, so twenty nineteen.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
They also that year put out a coffee table book
filled with like basically the equivalent of listener mail. I
asked employees and fans alike to send in stories and photos,
and they published this one hundred and fifty page book
just full of them, you know, first jobs, first dates,
other memories. They donated all proceeds to veterans based on
again that that initial parade, that Veterans Parade that they
(30:19):
opened the stand in. They have continued donating to veterans,
And okay, I wanted to end on that one because
of the obvious connection to listener mail. We love a
good transition here, but then I found this next thing. Okay,
so bucklin' y'all, it is time for some marketing maid yes, Okay.
(30:40):
In twenty twenty four, in W teamed up with the
local jeweler called Timeless Treasures of Kentucky and with the
Life Gem Lab diamond company to create some themed jewelry
for Valentine's Day that year. Life Gem is a company
that uses cremated remains to make diamonds, and so to
(31:07):
promote an w's limited edition quarter pound cod sandwich, they
cremated six of the sandwiches and then used the carbon
to create a one carrot orange colored diamond, which they
set in a ring with smaller stones in the band.
Very pretty and the press release was just amazing. Make
(31:32):
your relationship official, Oh.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Cod cod sandwich. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
The sandwich featured wild caught atlantic cod, a known aphrodisiac. Okay,
a Life Gem co founder was quoted as saying, whether
it's a spouse, a pet, or a quarter pound cod
sandwich from anw we only have a limited amount of
(31:58):
time with the ones we love. A life gem diamond
is the perfect way to memorialize that fleeting love. The
press release ended with and remember every kiss begins with cod, like.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
All right, knocked it out of the park, right, just
no notes.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
I it's so beautiful, whether it's a spouse, a bit
or a quarterbound costs.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Also, also I want to say that the ad, the
photos for this campaign that they run that they ran
were like, you know, like it didn't go out to
like a lot of places, but it was very progressive.
It was it was two ladies posing with this, uh,
with this like like engagement style jewelry, and it was
(33:06):
a black lady and a white lady. And I was like, okay,
that's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Heck yeah, mm hmm. This is excellent. I'm so glad
you brought this to my attention.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
I this has made my days so much better.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Every kiss begins with God, Oh it's it's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
It's really nice.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
It's beautiful.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
It is Oh, well that is what the where we
should end.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
We should end.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
That is everything that I have to say about Ay.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Yes, we do desperately want to hear from from.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
You listeners though, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes absolutely.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
We do already have some listener mail for you though,
and we are going to get into that as soon
as we get back from one more quick break for
a word from our sponsors, and we're back.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Thank you sponsor, yes, thank you, and we're back with listeners.
Speaker 4 (34:19):
Nay, final hug to summer, oh yeah to fall yeah
yes okay. So John wrote, I lowed myself to sleep
last night with the Joyce Chen episode. It got me
to thinking, which my wife says is a dangerous thing.
(34:41):
That I went to MIT nineteen sixty eight to nineteen
seventy six BS and PhD in organic chemistry and remember
eating at Joyce Chin, small eating place in Central Square
and Cambridge. Our research group would walk up there for
lunch on a nice day. It was a cafeteria line
manned womaned by young Chinese girls. We got a new
(35:01):
post doc in the group named Peter Chen. During her
first trip with the group to the small eating place,
he went through the line and chatted up the girls
in Chinese on the serving line. There was much giggling
and smiling involved. The result of all of that was
that the girls pould our plates high with food, probably
twice the normal portion. Good Old Peter My stipend at
the time was two hundred and seventy seven dollars and
(35:23):
ninety nine cents per month, so an immense meal really
hit the spot. Fond memories. Oh that's awesome. Oh that's
so cool. Yeah, every time we do those episodes about
somebody who's made a lot of waves or they've done
a lot of things for the food industry, I'm always
(35:45):
sad when I'm like they're not around or I didn't get.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
To go to that thing.
Speaker 4 (35:49):
Yeah right, right, that's cool that you got to go
and have these fond memories of it.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Yeah right, because yeah, I've hung out for a previous
job in Cambridge a little bit, but certainly right that
was not there anymore when I was there, and oh yeah,
that's really sweet, good Old Peter.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (36:10):
Yeah, it's always good to have a friend who can
get you some more food.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Oh right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
I'm not saying it's necessarily the best kind of friend,
but it's a pretty good one.
Speaker 4 (36:21):
It's like, if you're building out your D and D
group or your Apocalypse survival group.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
That's a good friend, Stephanie wrote, I've been a listener
since the beginning of food Stuff, and I love using
your episodes as inspiration when I travel. I recently returned
from a trip to Norway, Finland and Estonia, where I
made sure to try Urlsberg cheese, or as they call it,
Norwegian cheese. Have you heard of brunost? It literally means
(36:49):
brown cheese in Norwegian and it blew my mind. Attached
are some pictures from the oldest cafe in oh I'm
not sure you had to say that, tellin where they
do Marzapan sculpture and painting. The shop is full of
disturbingly realistic models made of Marzapan. I also attached pet
tax my pup Charlie insisting that I throw his toy
(37:09):
avocado for him.
Speaker 3 (37:11):
And yes.
Speaker 2 (37:13):
Attached are oh, my goodness, such realistic photographs or such
photo realistic Marzapan models. All kinds of fruit. There's like
kiwis and plums and bananas and watermelon, also like a lobster. Yeah,
(37:38):
some some little like like figurines of people.
Speaker 4 (37:43):
If I didn't know this was Marzapan, I would think
they look kind of like ceramic figurines.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
They do.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
They look like ceramics. They're beautifully painted.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
Yeah, they are.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
They are a little I believe the subject line of
this email was unsettling. Mars, Yeah, a little unsettling.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
The faces are a little.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
I'm not positive that they're not going to come alive
at night and try to eat my face.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
Always a concern.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
Yes, yes, yes, your.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Mars a pan.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Oh but but Charlie and the avocado. Yes, Charlie, just
a little fluffer nutter, just a just a little buddy,
oh my goodness.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
Yes, and a very insistent face.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
Very as always, pet Tax appreciated, keep them grumming. Thank
you so much to both of these listeners for writing in.
If you would like to write to us, you can
or email us hello at sabrepod dot com.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
We're also on social media.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
You can find us on Instagram and blue Sky at
saber pod and we do hope to hear from you.
Savor is production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts my heart Radio,
you can visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks us always to
our super producers Dylan Fagan and Andrew. Thanks to you
for listening, and we hope that lots more good things
(39:03):
are coming your way.
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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