LOCAL SPOTLIGHT
CHOC-OLA ® : A Sweet Tale of Resilience, Revival, and Refined Indulgence
A t Reis-Nichols, jewelry isn’t the only heirloom. For the Nichols family, just the mention of Choc-Ola® opens the memory floodgates back to a time when the chocolatey beverage was the only option in the house. And it was all thanks to their maternal grandfather, Harry Normington, Sr. In 1944, Normington poured his heart into crafting a shelf- stable chocolate beverage that didn’t require refrigeration. All you had to do was shake and sip! Nurtured over the next three decades, Choc-Ola® became a household name. By the mid-20th century, the company was selling two million cases annually. Then, in 1977, Mr. Normington sold the company to 7Up/Schweppes, which eventually ceased production in 1985. Fast forward to 2009, and enter Dan Iaria, the visionary behind Rock-Cola Cafe in Indianapolis. Seeking to instill a sense of nostalgia in his 1950s-style cafe, Iaria acquired the rights to Choc-Ola® and initiated small-scale manufacturing from inside the restaurant. It soon became clear that the nostalgic demand far outweighed the cafe’s production capacity. However, after attempting to bring the drink back to shelves in 2013, Choc-Ola® was again forced out of production due to an antiquated bottling process. Today, Iaria continues production in his cafe on a made-to-order basis.
44 REIS-NICHOLS JEWELERS MAGAZINE
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