In the Mountain West, the soda rush is on

Swig Drinks, Utah’s original soda-shop chain, has expanded from this first shop in St. George to nearly 40 drive-through shops where people can order baked goods and a wide array of mixed drinks.Credit...Joe Buglewicz for The New York Times

Since the first Swig opened in 2010 in St. George, Utah, dozens of soda-shop chains and independent soda shacks have opened from Idaho to Utah to Arizona, an area of the Mountain West sometimes called the Mormon Corridor.

A significant portion of the region’s population belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the church’s prohibition on tea and coffee has spurred a niche beverage market that has intensified in the last decade, hitting a fever pitch during the pandemic. Read the article at New York Times.