Mogen David
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Mogen David Wine Co. is a company based in Westfield, New York that makes wines, including the fortified wine MD 20/20. Mogen David Wine Co. is a trademark held by their parent company The Wine Group in Livermore, California.<ref name="TM">Template:Cite web</ref>
Mogen David is the Ashkenazic pronunciation of the Hebrew Magen David, which literally means "shield of David", but is used metaphorically to refer to the six-pointed Star of David.
Products
Mogen David wine is sold in 750mL, 1.5L, and 3L bottles. It is also Kosher for Passover.
Mogen David Concord Red wine is made from must of no less than 51% Concord grapes, an American grape variety, which is typically used for grape juices, jellies, and preserves, but also used for Kosher wines. This makes the wine less expensive, averaging $5 per bottle. In addition to Concord red, Mogen David also markets Blackberry and Pomegranate wines.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Founded months before the Repeal of Prohibition by Max Cohen and Henry Markus in Chicago,<ref name="Schreiber" /> the California Wine Company bottled medicinal and sacramental wines,<ref name="Church74" /> changing its name to Wine Corporation of America in 1941<ref name="Appelbaum">Template:Cite journal</ref> when it began making wine from Concord grape juice (or concentrate) shipped from growers in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio<ref name="Pinney">Template:Cite book</ref> and later Michigan.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Chicago winery
Following World War II the company purchased a Template:Convert building at 3737 South Sacramento Ave<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood which was converted into one of the largest wineries in the Midwestern United States. The entire winery was allocated to a single product, Mogen David, a kosher wine originally marketed for the Passover Seder that turned out to be popular year-round with the general public.<ref name="Pinney" /><ref name="Adams" /> Annual production of Mogen David was Template:Convert in 1946.<ref name="Freedman">Template:Cite journal</ref> Wine Corporation of America began advertising Mogen David nationally in 1947; by the early 1950s the advertising budget for Mogen David was the fourth or fifth largest for wines.<ref name="FTC1979" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Max Cohen, company President and founder, noted in 1952 that 98 percent of Mogen David's customers were not Jewish.<ref name="Birnbaum">Template:Cite news</ref>
Annual production of Mogen David increased to more than Template:Convert of wine in 1949<ref name="Savage">Template:Cite news</ref> and to nearly Template:Convert for 1953,<ref name="Freedman" /><ref name="Ganchiff">Template:Cite web</ref> and in that year Wine Corporation of America took the name of its most important product, becoming the Mogen David Wine Corporation.<ref name="Adams">Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1955 Mogen David announced the purchase of new plant facilities at 3700 South Kedzie Ave, about Template:Convert from the main plant on Sacramento Ave, designed to triple its capacity and enable production of two additional wines.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The company launched a new line of wines under a different brand name, Key, in 1957. This marketing campaign was unsuccessful, and the new line was dropped after three years.<ref name="FTC1979"> Template:Cite court</ref>
In the early 1960s, concord wine was still the biggest seller in the Mogen David line, along with a rosé, a blackberry wine, a cherry wine and a dry red wine.<ref name="Church63">Template:Cite news</ref>
Company founder and chairman Max Cohen announced his resignation on 8 January 1962, citing friction with his brother-in-law, Henry A. Markus who was president of the company. Cohen sold all of his stock to Markus, saying that "I am no longer connected with the firm and I have no interest in it."<ref name="Schreiber">Template:Cite news</ref>
The sale of a controlling interest in Mogen David to Richard T. Schofield of Westfield, New York was announced on 9 May 1963, with Schofield taking over as president of the company and Markus appointed chairman.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Some operations were moved to Westfield in 1967; Mogen David's Westfield winery was closer to the vineyards in the Northeast that grow Concord grapes for its wines,<ref name="RFB" /><ref name="FU-TWG">Template:Cite web</ref> the Chicago plants remained open.<ref name="Church74">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Church68">Template:Cite news</ref>
By 1968, Mogen David was producing a dozen different wines and two kinds of champagne.<ref name="Taylor">Template:Cite news</ref> The company broke away from its conventional Mogen David line with the introduction of the MD 20/20 brandTemplate:Refn of flavored fortified wines that were well received by younger consumers, especially college students. The MD 20/20 line included unusual flavors such as pink grapefruit, wild berry, and Hawaiian blue.<ref name="FTC1979" /><ref name="FU-TWG" />
Acquisition by Coke-New York
In 1970 the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York was the largest soft drink bottler in the world, having merged with the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New Haven (acquired in 1969)<ref name="Coke70">Template:Cite journal</ref> but its growth prospects were limited by the franchise boundaries. When Coke-New York was approached by an investment banking firm to let them know that Mogen David was for sale, they saw an opportunity to become a major competitor in a new industry (Mogen David was the sixth largest winery and the largest Concord grape wine producer in the country) and to pick up a national sales and distribution network. Coke-New York acquired Mogen David on 1 November 1970 by paying $16,750,000 in cash.<ref name="FTC1979" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> J. Myron "Mike" Bay was an officer in both companies: President of Mogen David as well as a VP of Coke-New York.<ref name="Coke70" /><ref name="Weiner">Template:Cite news</ref>
By 1972 Mogen David was producing Template:Convert a day in Westfield, NY and Template:Convert a day from the two plants in Chicago, for an estimated annual output of Template:Convert.<ref name="Weiner" /> Mogen David company introduced a "pop wine" product line, Cold Bear (Concord) and Black Bear (blackberry), leading to overall growth in sales of 32 percent for 1972. Mogen David had a staff of over 45 salesmen. Mogen David wines and Tribuno vermouths were marketed nationally through over 300 independent distributors in 1972, in order to strengthen their market position, New York Coca-Cola began consolidating Tribuno and Mogen David distribution networks.<ref name="FTC1979" />
The Jug line of strawberry and apple pop wines, packaged in country-style brown and white jugs, was introduced in 1973.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Mogen David had the fourth largest winery and the third largest advertising budget in the wine industry in 1973.<ref name="FTC1979" />
With its 1973 acquisitions of Tribuno Wines (previously Vermouth Industries of America) and later the well established California winery Franzia, Coke-New York was, in all, the third largest US wine producer.<ref name="Lazarus">Template:Cite news</ref> Franzia also shipped wine, grape concentrates and brandy in bulk to the Mogen David winery in Westfield, New York, for use in Mogen David products.<ref name="FTC1979" /><ref name="RFB" />
Jerome W. "Jerry" Alder joined Mogen David as President and COO in September 1976; former President Mike Bay moved into the new position of Chairman, and continued as Mogen David's CEO.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1977, the company's administrative and marketing offices moved from the original winery at 3737 South Sacramento Ave, and into space in a new building at 444 Michigan Ave in downtown Chicago.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
A study of wine marketing in 1980 found that Mogen David consumers apparently had the strongest brand loyalty in the varietal table wine category.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Acquisition by The Wine Group
Discussions between The Coca-Cola Company and The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York about a possible acquisition of the latter began in 1974, to little effect.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
When merger discussions resumed in 1980,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Coca-Cola Company had already entered the alcoholic beverage market; their Wine Spectrum subsidiary consisting of wineries in California and New York.<ref name="RFB" /> As part of the proposed merger, The Coca-Cola Company agreed to sell the wine business of Coke-New York to a partnership formed by First Boston and top-level managers of the New York bottler's wine business.<ref name="NYT1981">Template:Cite news</ref> Coke-New York divested itself of its three wineries, which were bought in 1981 by The Wine Group, a limited partnership headed by Arthur A. Ciocca,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> to avoid a buyout involving a third party.<ref name="RFB" /><ref name="Berger">Template:Cite news</ref> The Wine Group was the fifth largest wine producer nationally (just behind Coca-Cola's Wine Spectrum) for 1981 with sales of nine million cases, the same as the year before.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1998, 1.5 million adults were drinking Mogen David, putting it just ahead of its chief competitor Manischewitz.<ref name="RFB">Template:Cite web</ref> By 2005, Manischewitz was again dominant with more than half of kosher wine sales, Mogen David was second with 33 percent of the market.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>