As a kid growing up in west Charlotte, James Davis didn’t like making his grandfather’s sweet-tea – a blend that included a secret mix of natural fruit juices and pure cane sugar.

First the drink had to be brewed, then stirred, then cooled overnight in a huge 10-gallon pot. And when all the work was done, his grandfather, Melvin L. Davis Sr., would often just give it away.

For a 13 year old, the two-day process was more work than delight.

Today, at age 36, Davis is president of Carolina Breeze, a beverage company he launched in 2009 using an altered version of his grandfather’s recipe. The product is sold at 14 retail locations, including the Common Market and Big Daddy’s Burger Bar.

Davis said his grandfather, who worked as a custodian at First Union Bank, started brewing his own special blend in 1971 because he thought regular tea was just “okay.”

“For him, food wasn’t interesting unless it had contrasting flavors,” Davis recalled. “He was always cooking and trying new foods.”

As his tea became popular in the family’s University Park neighborhood, Davis said, his grandfather would give it to neighbors to take to church functions and picnics.

He also began recruiting his grandson to help.
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Davis said his grandfather eventually began making so much tea that he had to store it in a separate refrigerator. He’d distribute it in 3-liter Pepsi bottles.

Melvin Davis Sr. died in 2003, the year his grandson graduated from college.

Years later, while working for an advertising agency in Minneapolis on an ad campaign for Lipton tea, Davis said he had an epiphany. After tasting the Lipton product, he decided that his grandfather’s tea was better.

“They (Lipton) were promoting it like it was a Southern-style sweet tea, and to me it wasn’t,” he said. “I started thinking, I need to get my stuff in a bottle and get it to the market.”

With no background in food chemistry, Davis faced many challenges. How would he make the tea, bottle it, preserve it, then get it to market?

His grandfather’s recipe was made from natural products and consumed quickly. Davis had the arduous task of researching all the rules and guidelines set by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to ensure that his product met proper safety standards.

He spoke with food chemists, learned about pasteurization, labeling and quality control.

“Everything Pepsi does, I have to follow the same process, except I make smaller batches,” he said.

It was a strict process that took him seven years to perfect.

In March of 2009, Davis launched Carolina Breeze, a remix of what his grandfather started 38 years before. He funded the company with money from his savings and financial help from friends and family. The beverage comes in three flavors -- sweet tea, semi-sweet tea and strawberry lemonade. Each 16-ounce bottle sells for $1.29.
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Although learning the food chemistry part of the process was tricky, that wasn’t the hardest part, Davis said. As a small beverage distributor, he needed to find a company that would supply him with plastic bottles, and most weren’t willing to sell him anything smaller than a truckload, typically 90,000 bottles.

After finally finding a company, he ordered a pallet -- 4,500 bottles.

Davis said he rents a commercial kitchen where he brews and bottles the tea. Family members and friends help label, cap and box the product for distribution.

Davis said he delivers his drinks to each retail location personally. If he happens to see a customer buying one of his drinks, he’ll strike up a conversation. He said it’s important to put a face with the product, and it helps him stay in touch with consumers. Often, he said, customers will suggest new flavors.

Something that did come easy for Davis was coming up with the company name. He said it was inspired by an ex-girlfriend who reminded him of a line he once wrote in a Valentine’s Day card. The line read: “Your love is like a Carolina Breeze.”

“The way she said it, when we were talking, it was like, ‘That’s it! That’s the name of my grandfather’s tea,” Davis recalled.

Carolina Breeze comes in clear bottles with a white label. On the back is a tribute to his grandfather: “Carolina is the culmination of a lifelong quest by Melvin L. Davis Sr., my grandfather, to create the quintessential drink….”

Surprisingly, Davis said, it hasn’t been too difficult getting small, locally owned retailers to carry his tea.

“Once people taste it and see what it is, it makes it easier for me,” he said. “Most times they like it.”

Davis said his main selling points are the fact that his tea is locally produced and is made from tea leaves, not powders. Also, it doesn’t contain high fructose, an ingredient found in most popular beverages.

Davis said he wants to get the product into large retail chains and grocery stores, but right now, he said, he can’t afford the high fees required to pay for shelf space.

The company sells about 56 cases a week, Davis said. That’s enough to make a profit, he said, but he hasn’t made back all the money he invested in the business.

Next year Davis said he hopes to expand his drink line to include half-and-half and maybe a fruit punch. His ultimate goal, he said, is to one-day build a state-of-the-art green manufacturing plant on Beatties Ford Road, near where he grew up.

“My grandfather would have been surprised and pleased,” he said. “Just to see the story about him on the label… he’d be proud of my success.”

For more information, go to www.carolinabreezetea.com
 

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