A-Treat was formally established in 1918 by Joseph C. and John L. Egizio. Their father, Gioacchino Egizio, started a beverage business in the family home in the 600 block of Front Street in Allentown, and later built a small manufacturing facility behind the home. Their mother, Vincenza Munjone, also came from a family involved in the beverage business in Allentown. In 1932, the Egizio brothers moved the business to Union Boulevard in East Allentown, where it remains to this day. Joseph C. Egizio served as the board chairman of A-Treat Bottling Co. until retiring in 1989. He died in 2000, at the age of 96. John L. Egizio, who had started working at the company at the age of 13 delivering sodas on his bicycle, served as vice president and co-owner until his death in 1990. In 1991, the company was the subject of regional news coverage when a smear campaign was launched against A-Treat as it tried to sell its sodas in New York City. The campaign, which targeted African Americans, claimed certain brands of carbonated beverages — including those produced by A-Treat — were actually manufactured by the Ku Klux Klan and contained stimulants that would "sterilize the black man". Investigations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and New York City's Department of Health found the claims to be unsubstantiated and untrue. On July 21, 2015, it was announced that the Jaindl Companies had purchased the A-Treat brand, including its name, trademarks, formulas, and related intellectual property. A co-packing agreement was reached with The Coca-Cola Company that keeps production in the Lehigh Valley, with production scheduled to resume in August 2015. A poll was held on July 27th, 2015 to decide the first flavors A-Treat would release onto store shelves. With an unexpected victory, Orange Cream placed first with 17% of the votes, which was later revealed that the poll was manipulated by a single person using multi-login on Google Chrome to cast over 10,000 votes. Black Cherry placed second with 8% of votes, and production of the two flavors was immediately started alongside the eight previously announced flavors: Birch Beer, Cream, Big Blue, Ginger Ale, Sarsaparilla, Orange, Root Beer, Grapefruit, and Diet Cream. A-Treat Grapefruit, another flavor with a devoted following, was the first soda to roll off the line when A-Treat made its return in 2015. On May 20, 2016, A-Treat launched Orange Cream onto store shelves. It was the company's first new flavor in more than six years.
Products
The company formerly distinguished itself by producing sodas in the traditional manner. As of the final production, the company used both cane sugar syrup and high fructose corn syrup. A-Treat produced soft drinks in at least 16 flavors, including Big Blue, Birch Beer, Black Cherry, Champagne Kola, Cola, Cream soda, Fruit Punch, two kinds of Ginger Ale, Grape, Grapefruit, White Birch Beer, Pineapple, Sarsaparilla, two kinds of Orange, Lime, Tonic Water, Strawberry, Treat-up, and Root Beer. Most, if not all, of these flavors were also produced in a diet formulation. A-Treat Birch Beer and Sarsaparilla are rated highly by connoisseurs of these types of beverages.
Distribution
A-Treat beverages has limited distribution throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and as far away as Bermuda. Josh Jaindl runs daily operations for the company.
