JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- Select Roadrunner Markets in the Tri-Cities region in Tennessee are currently the only place to purchase Pepsi's new Mountain Dew's "Johnson City Gold" soft drink. The beverage Stores in Washington County, Carter County, Unicoi County and some stores in the city of Kingsport will carry the drink for a limited time.
"We're excited to help Pepsi with this promotion and honored they've chosen Roadrunner Markets as the exclusive c-store distributor," said John Kelly, vice president of operations of Mountain Empire Oil Co., the Johnson City, Tenn.-based parent company of Roadrunner Markets.
"We have a close relationship with Pepsi, so we were able to secure the exclusive distribution of the one-liter bottle. We were given 1,200 cases, and my understanding is, when they're gone, they're gone--and we expect this collectors item to sell out quickly."
Johnson City is considered the place were the citrus-flavored formula for Mountain Dew was developed and later sold to PepsiCo in the 1960s. Since that time, Mountain Dew has emerged as one of the top-selling soft drinks worldwide.
Kelly said the new drink has created a lot of buzz in the stores, and he has had many calls inquiring about the beverage.
Johnson City Gold is a nonalcoholic, malted version of Mountain Dew. The flavor has been described as a cross between beer, ginger ale and Mountain Dew (see Related Content below for previous CSP Daily News coverage).
At Roadrunner Markets, the one-liter bottles are available at room temperature in a display case, or cold in the store coolers.
PepsiCo has announced that Johnson City Gold will be released to a limited number of other test-market cities in the future.
Incorporated as Mountain Empire Oil in 1977, Roadrunner Markets is a family-owned business that operates 92 convenience stores throughout Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.