RC Cola in a can, and later the first company to sell a soft drink in an aluminum can. In 1958, the company introduced the first diet cola, Diet Rite, and in 1980, a caffeine-free cola, RC 100. In the mid-1990s, RC released Royal Crown Draft Cola, billed as a "premium" cola using pure cane sugar as a sweetener, rather than high fructose corn syrup. Offered only in 12-ounce bottles, sales were disappointing, due largely to the inability of the RC bottling network to get distribution for the product in single-drink channels, and it was discontinued with the exceptions of Australia, New
Coca-Cola Enterprises Coca-Cola Enterprises Coca-Cola Enterprises was a marketer, producer, and distributor of Coca-Cola products. It was formerly the anchor bottler for Western Europe and most of North America. Coca-Cola Enterprises' products included Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Fanta, Capri-Sun, Dr Pepper, Chaudfontaine, Schweppes, Monster and Relentless. The Coca-Cola Company decided to consolidate the many independent bottling groups in the Coca-Cola System. Previously, independent businesses in remote geographic areas bottled Coca-Cola products and distributed the merchandise to stores. In 1980, Coca-Cola acquired the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York for $215 million. In 1982, Coca-Cola acquired the Associated Coca-Cola Bottling Company