Diet drink Cola placed an announcement in an Atlanta newspaper in 1958 announcing a diet product, Diet Rite. In 1962, Dr Pepper released a diet(etic) version of its soft drink, although it sold slowly due to the misconception that it was meant solely for diabetic consumption. In 1963, The Coca-Cola Company joined the diet soft drink market with Tab, which proved to be a huge success. Tab was originally sweetened with cyclamates and saccharin. Tab, Diet Rite, and Fresca (a grapefruit-flavored drink introduced by Coca-Cola) were the only brand-name diet refreshments on the market until Pepsi released Patio Diet Cola in 1963
National Beverage and acquired Shasta Beverages from Sara Lee Corporation in 1985 for US$40 million in cash and Burnup & Sims shares. To make National a major player, Caporella purchased Faygo, a Midwest regional soft drink manufacturer, from Tree Sweet Products Corp. With its 12 bottling plants, National subsidiaries branched out into bottling store brands. In 1991, National Beverage went public to sell Burnup & Sims's shares in National Beverage, which was partially successful. A Burnup & Sims stockholder sued due to Caporella's salary from Burnup and percentage of revenue from National Beverage, forcing Caporella to spend less time managing the company.