2008 EXCELLENCE AWARD RECIPIENT

Edward Barq, Sr.
Biloxi, Mississippi

Since 1998, March 26th is celebrated as “Barq’s Root Beer Day” in Biloxi. Mayor A.J. Holloway officially proclaimed this date to commemorate the world-
famous beverage that was first created and bottled in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Edward Charles Edmond Barq was born in New Orleans in 1871. His French father died when Edward was two and he and his mother then moved to Nice, France where she taught children of wealthy Americans. While in France, Barq learned the art of flavor chemistry from masters in Paris and Bordeaux.

In 1890, he and his brother, Gaston, returned to New Orleans and opened Barq’s Brothers Bottling Company in the French Quarter of New Orleans. In 1893 at the World’s Fair, Barq won a gold medal for one of his first soft drinks called Orangine.

He and his wife, Elodie, moved to Biloxi in 1897, which at the time was
known as “The Seafood Capital of the World”. A year later, he had bottled and sold his first soft drink. His root beer was different than others, with a higher level of carbonation, less sugar and without the traditional foamy head.

In 1931, Barq was the first to introduce 12-ounce glass bottles instead of the usual six and eight-ounce bottles for soft drinks. He sold his new 12-ounce bottles of root beer for the same five-cent price as the smaller bottles.

1934 brought about the first franchise, which was in Mobile, Alabama, and was soon followed by one in New Orleans. As its popularity grew, by 1937, 62 bottling plants had been established in 22 states. By 1950, approximately 200 franchises had been established.

The Federal Government banned caffeine in root beer in 1938, so Barq simply changed the name of his root beer to Barq’s Sr. and then developed a caffeine-free root beer. The caffeine ban was reversed in 1960, and Barq’s Sr. was discontinued and the grand return of the original Barq’s Root Beer was welcomed.

Today, Barq’s Root Beer is known and enjoyed world-wide.