An articleBy NANCY LUNA The Orange County Register

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Deal is brewing in

Surf City USA for a namesake soda

Huntington Beach's tourism bureau plans to work with a local brewery to bottle and sell a line of soft drinks under the trademarked name.

Surf City is going fizzy.
Huntington Beach's tourism bureau has hatched a plan to bottle its first-ever soft drink, dubbed Surf City USA, with plans to sell it in surf shops, hotels and supermarkets across Southern California.
Tourism officials have partnered with BrewBakers, a Huntington Beach-based beer and soda brewery that will manufacture and bottle the beverages. The line of six retro flavors includes root beer, diet root beer, creme soda, orange soda and cola, owner Dennis Midden said Wednesday.
The varieties are "timeless and that's what Huntington Beach is all about," said Patricia Hooper, who handles product licensing for the Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau.
The beverages are part of a string of new merchandise that stretch "beyond T-shirts and mugs" on which the city plans to use its newly trademarked moniker, Surf City USA, said Wendy Haase, a bureau spokeswoman.
Officials hope to distribute the beverages in major supermarkets, liquor stores and high-profile tourism spots such as airports and hotels.
The move comes as the city is engaged in a battle with Santa Cruz over bragging rights for use of the phrase Surf City USA. Though Huntington Beach owns the trademark, Santa Cruz continues to market its coastal town as Surf City.
Santa Cruz tourism official Christina Glynn said her city has no plans to get into the food and beverage industry. "We wish them luck."
In the meantime, locals don't have to wait to get a swig of the hometown soda. The farmer's market at the pier is expected to sell the sodas Friday.
Bottles also are available at BrewBakers, which for 11 years has allowed beer enthusiasts to craft their own microbrews at its Heil Avenue facility. The company also brews soda, but custom beer-making accounts for 60 percent of the company's revenue, said Midden.
Eventually, Midden said he'd like to crank out microbrews under the Surf City USA name. "We're ready to do that, but I don't think (the city) is."

Contact the writer: nluna@ocregister.com or 714-796-6756