Nam Refreshments Company

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Nam Refreshments Company

Stock Exchange  • Stock Symbol
Date Founded	2049
Head Offices	Gonybet, Marjeccashar Samthuma
Key People	Prince Nam Bandet, majority owner, Druji Nam Sesthphet, operations officer
Primary Industry	Food
Major Products	beverages, prepared foods, canned foodstuffs
Revenue	not public
Employees	12,225
Owned By
Subsidiaries	{{{subsid}}}

One of the royally-chartered merchandise companies of the Kingdom, Nam ArAma Toli (the Nam Refreshments Company) packages and distributes popular lines of drinks, snacks, and convenience foods. Started in 2049 in Anabavet City, Marjeccashar Principality, the company's fortunes changed when several House Nam representatives decided to invest. That 25% stake came along with a royal charter -- owner and founder T. Roj Mesvettisevarin knew with Nam backing his business would soar. It did.

Between the 2062 grant of charter and 2069 the Nam family increased its holdings in NAT from 25% to 54%. The founder's family decreased its share to a "mere" 28%, where it remains today. Shares were sold to a select group of acquaintences for the rest. Yet the Mesvettisevarins were and are extremely happy with the financial arrangement. Their equity has increased many, many-fold at 28%, over when T. Roj owned the whole outfit.

In the 2050's the company's signature products were LiHingMwi (now Li Cola) and a set of a dozen sassafras root beverages. Li Hing usually being a dry, powdery flavoring, any new consumers today consider it odd as a beverage. Long-time drinkers of Li Cola figure the worldwide li hing candies, li hing dust, and li hing flavored potato crisps are the anomalies. Nonetheless, NAT produces those delicacies and more. Prawn-flavored crisps, dried seaweed bars, almond and hazelnut extracts, canned mangoes -- all are now available in Sam'thuman markets. Some have found places in neighboring nations, ranging from niche products to cult favorites.

Today the flagship bottled beverage of NAT is King Cola, which in most Sam'thuman principalities outsells even Yerba Cola, though of course tea is still the national drink. The drink's motto "of Sam'thuman royalty" is true not only from the Nam ownership, but also from Prince Bandet's personal preference. The current heir presumptive to the Sam'thuman throne has been photographed with a bottle of King Cola (or Li Cola) in a hundred situations.

Sam'thuman law protects private corporate records from public view. Hence most of the 18% of NAT in hands other than Nam or Mesvettisevarin is under unknown ownership. At least one such investor though is investment banker G. J. A. Anacauthy - he uses a 100-share NAT stock certificate in many of his firm's advertisements. Whomever they are, current estimates are that they earn at least a 13% dividend yearly.

King Cola has sufficient sugar and caffeine to be an efficient pick-me-up drink. While not quite the health food that the advertisements claim, King Cola's particular listed and secret ingredients do constitute a stomach remedy. Doctors have bowed to folk wisdom and prescribe the syrup for digestive ailments. NAT neither denies nor claims effectiveness, but they do deliver the syrup to pharmacies as well as soda fountains. As for Li Cola’s nutritional values, the li hing ingredients are plum, licorice, salt, sugar, food coloring and water. NAT uses only plums from Anaccathuma Principality -- the same species grown in other nations still makes Li Hing, just not Li Cola. The cola component common to all NAM colas includes sugar, coca leaf, kola bean, phosphoric acid, citric acid, caffeine, oil of orange, oil of lime, and other flavorings. It's that "other flavorings" bit which is jealously protected by NAT, and which distinguishes their product from other cola sodas.