. for the american continental army unit see welch s regiment of militia . welch s type subsidiary of national grape cooperative association industry beverages and foods founded 1869 vineland new jersey founder thomas bramwell welch 1 headquarters concord massachusetts u.s. products grape juice grape soda jams jellies fruit snacks niagara grape juice strawberry soda grape cider parent national grape cooperative association dr pepper snapple group soda promotion in motion inc. fruit snacks website welchs.com drink portal welch foods inc. welch s is an american company headquartered in concord massachusetts . it has been owned by the national grape cooperative association a co op of grape growers since 1956 . 1 2 welch s is particularly known for its grape juices jams and jellies made from dark concord grapes 3 and its white niagara grape juice . the company also manufactures and markets an array of other products including refrigerated juices frozen and shelf stable concentrates organic grape juice and dried fruit . welch s has also licensed its name for a line of grape flavored soft drinks since 1974 . welch s grape and strawberry soda flavors are currently licensed to the dr pepper snapple group . 4 other popular products that use the welch s name are the fruit snacks made by the promotion in motion companies inc. contents 1 history 2 physical plant 3 history of welch s grape juice 4 commercials 5 references 6 external links history edit the company was founded in vineland new jersey in 1869 by thomas bramwell welch and his nephew lee steger welch . 5 in 1956 the company was sold to the national grape cooperative association which comprises 1 300 grape growers located in michigan new york ohio pennsylvania washington and ontario canada . 6 in the 1960s welch s was a major sponsor of the abc primetime animated comedy series the flintstones ; its characters were prominently featured in welch s tv commercials on that show and on jars of welch s grape jelly which could be used as a drinking glass after the product had been fully used . in the early 1970s the archies cartoon characters were on the jars . physical plant edit the oldest extant structure associated with the company is welch factory building no. 1 located at westfield new york and listed on the national register of historic places in 1983 . 7 history of welch s grape juice edit the method of pasteurizing grape juice to halt the fermentation has been attributed to a british physician and dentist thomas bramwell welch 1825 1903 in 1869 . welch was an adherent to the wesleyan methodist connexion which strongly opposed manufacturing buying selling or using intoxicating liquors and advocated the use of unfermented grape juice instead of wine for administering the sacrament of the eucharist or communion during the church service . 8 a few years earlier welch had relocated to vineland new jersey a town started in 1861 by philadelphia land developer charles k. landis 1833 1900 to create his own alcohol free utopian society a temperance town based on agriculture and progressive thinking . landis declared that he was about to build a city and an agricultural and fruit growing colony around it . the population reached 5 500 by 1865 . 9 landis determined the potential in growing grapes and named the settlement vineland and advertised to attract italian grape growers to vineland offering 20 acres 81 000 m2 of land that had to be cleared and used to grow grapes . welch had moved to the region following his sister who was one of vineland s earliest residents and began to produce an unfermented wine grape juice from locally grown grapes that was marketed as dr. welch s unfermented wine . 10 this product became welch s grape juice in 1893 when welch and his son charles e. welch also a practicing dentist had decided to incorporate in 1893 as the welch s grape juice company at westfield new york . the product was given to visitors at international exhibitions . the oldest extant structure associated with the company is welch factory building no. 1 located at westfield and listed on the national register of historic places in 1983 . 7 as the temperance movement grew so did the popularity of grape juice . in 1913 secretary of state william jennings bryan served grape juice instead of wine during a full dress diplomatic function and in 1914 josephus daniels secretary of the navy forbade any alcoholic drinks on board of naval ships actively replacing them with grape juice . during world war i the company supplied grapelade a type of grape jam to the military and advertised aggressively . subsequent development of new grape products and sponsorship of radio and television programs made the company very successful . an advertisement in a journal from the year 1914 states welch s grape juice has attained its popular and professional favor through merit alone . this product has been perfected and marketed under the personal direction of the physician whose name it bears and whose purpose from the beginning was to produce a liquid food possessing all the nutrient essentials necessary to metabolism in sickness and convalescence . 11 commercials edit welch s has featured people in their television commercials such as alton brown 12 shyann mcclure 13 travis tedford 14 references edit a b hays constance l. how too much purple could mean less green . new york times . 18 april 1999 . welch s history hein kenneth . welch s touts concord grape as superfruit . adweek . 17 nov. 2008 . drpeppersnapplegroup.com edwin mcdowell january 12 1986 . faces behind the famous brand names . new york times . retrieved 2015 03 23 . dr. thomas b. welch a teetotaling new jersey dentist came up with dr. welch s unfermented wine later renamed welch s grape juice to be used as a substitute for wine in church communion service . farm group buys welch grape co. 87 year old concern sold for equivalent of 28.6 million to cooperative . new york times . august 27 1956 . retrieved 2015 03 23 . a b national park service 2009 03 13 . national register information system . national register of historic places . national park service . hallett anthony ; and hallett diane . thomas b. welch charles e. welch in entrepreneur magazine encyclopedia of entrepreneurs . john wiley and sons 1997 481 483 ; and haines lee m. ; and thomas paul william . a new denomination in an outline history of the wesleyan church 4th edition ed . . indianapolis indiana wesley press 1990 68 . our people of the century charles k. landis founder of a city creator of a dream . cumberland county new jersey . accessed 26 january 2013 . the founding of vineland and its growth as an agricultural center west jersey and south jersey heritage . accessed august 28 2007 . classified directory of advertising . the dietetic and hygienic gazette . 30 1 . p. xx . january 1914 . alton brown is welch s new spokesman . retrieved 13 september 2010 . shyann mcclure video . retrieved 13 september 2010 . travis tedford welch s grape juice commercial . retrieved 13 september 2010 . external links edit welch s company homepage welch s soft drink page national grape cooperative association v t e dr pepper snapple brands soda 50 50 7 up a & w cream soda a & w root beer barrelhead root beer cactus cooler canada dry canfield s diet chocolate fudge crush dr pepper floats gini hawaiian punch hires root beer ibc root beer orangina rc cola diet rite nehi ricql s schweppes squirt stewart s fountain classics sun drop sunkist sussex golden venom energy vernors wink juices teas and others clamato country time dej blue hawaiian punch mott s nantucket nectars pe afiel raging cow realemon realime snapple welch s yoo hoo beverage mixers rose s miscellaneous college football playoff national championship trophy retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title welch % 27s & oldid 742536918 categories agricultural marketing cooperativesdrink brandscompanies based in middlesex county massachusettscompanies established in 1869food manufacturers of the united statesdr pepper snapple group brandsvineland new jersey1869 establishments in new jerseyfood and drink companies established in 1869hidden categories use dmy dates from september 2010 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages fran ais edit links this page was last modified on 4 october 2016 at 08 23 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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