NORTHERN NECK, Va. — It was just a refreshing ginger ale to many. But to others, “it’s home, it is a community,” said Stephanie Johnson.
The beloved Northern Neck Ginger Ale produced regionally in Virginia by the Coca-Cola Company was discontinued after 94 years during the height of the pandemic.
Coca-Cola axed the drink, along with several other “underperforming products,” at the end of 2020 without a warning — blaming a shortage of aluminum.
What was once up for the official state soft drink of Virginia no longer exists. But Johnson and over 5,000 others in her “Save Northern Neck Ginger Ale” Facebook group, are not ready to let it rest in peace.
Coincidentally, she started the Facebook group two years before the ginger ale’s production was stopped.
Johnson, a native of Westmoreland County but a current resident of King George, said she started to notice it was harder to find in her local grocery stores and was worried about it going away forever.
Little did she know her fears would actually come true.
“How do you erase 94 years?” said Johnson.
Northern Neck Ginger Ale was originally produced on the peninsula until Coca-Cola bought it from the Carver family in 2001 and started producing it at their plant in Sandston.
Johnson feels as though the company didn’t do enough research before deciding to stop production forever. And she said she’s not the type of person that takes “no” for an answer.
“I feel like this is one of those things that you have to continue to knock on the door,” said Johnson. “That's what we're doing. We're gonna sit together, knock on this door together and keep on going.”
She said they hope to make enough noise to get the attention of politicians, like Governor Glenn Youngkin, as well as Coca-Cola. The goal is to have a conversation with them and figure out a solution to get the cans back in the hands of Virginians.
“I don't care what side of the aisle you're on. Because this drink stands in the middle,” said Johnson.
“I have a few people who private messaged me in the group that stated ‘I will buy it, I need to know how much it is, I will buy it, I will bring it back to Virginia.’” Johnson said.
However, according to another member of the Facebook group, when they originally were approached about selling the rights to the drink, Coca-Cola refused.
But Johnson and the group aren’t giving up. They want their drink back.
They’ve started an online petition with over 1,000 signatures, and are setting up at the Montross Fall Festival on Oct. 29 — right across from the location where the drink originated — to ask citizens to sign a physical petition.
They’ve also just unveiled a billboard in Richmond near the intersection of Arthur Ashe Boulevard and Broad Street that states “Northern Neck region, do you miss your ginger ale?” with information about the Facebook group.
Johnson said she got the idea for the billboard after talking to the creator of a Facebook group that is dedicated to bringing back Tab, another soda Coca-Cola stopped making.
“We want people to be aware that we're out here. We want people to understand that there are people who want to fight for this,” said Johnson.
If you’ve never tried Northern Neck Ginger Ale, you might wonder what’s so special about it.
“When you take a sip, it brings you back home,” described Johnson. “When you have that sip, you know everything is going to be okay.”
And the ginger ale can touch memories in any phase of life.
Johnson said drinking the ginger ale brings her back to being a young girl, at home sick from school watching ‘The Price is Right’ at her grandmother’s house. It helped her cure hangovers in college. And it helped her with morning sickness throughout her pregnancies.
She wants to bring it back so others can experience that comfort in a can. “That's why I'm still fighting.”
CBS 6 reached out to Del. Margaret Ransone, who is from the district that includes the Northern Neck and launched a failed effort to make it the official state soda, for comment, but received no response at the time this article was posted.
