Eric Miller Is No Soda Jerk
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Sometimes the business world throws a curve so surprising, you never saw it coming. That's what happened to Eric Miller, owner of Brooklyn Bottling Corp. Last year, Miller began selling Tropical Fantasy, a line of low-priced sodas, in New York's ethnic neighborhoods. Sales of the fruit-flavored sodas reached $2 million a month. Then someone started a rumor that the soda was made by the Ku Klux Klan to sterilize black men. Miller watched in horror as sales plummeted 70%.
Yet thanks to Miller's quick reactions and shrewd strategy, Tropical Fantasy is rebounding. Today, Miller distributes beyond New York, sales of his "gourmet" sodas are up, and he has big plans for a slew of ethnic sodas. Says Miller: "We wound up winning that battle."