PORT ANGELES – A tasty local product just turned 40 years old and it’s still going strong.

Bedford’s Sodas has been a local success story, growing from a single cream soda in 1984 to a brand sold in 38 states. Founder Ed Bedford started as selling soda for a local distributor. When they began carrying “Mug” brand root beer. Bedford said that got him thinking about the need for a crème soda.

“It was in a brown stubby beer bottle, and we brought that product in—and boy, it just took off. As I was out promoting it, I kept thinking to myself: there’s no really good cream soda on the market. Why couldn’t I do the same thing with cream soda that they did with this?” said Bedford.

So, he found a bottler, worked with a flavor chemist, and soon, Bedford’s Cream Soda was on the market. And as the cream soda took off, Bedford began to offer other flavors like root beer, ginger beer, and orange cream. He even had a surprise hit with Marionberry Cream Soda, originally made for Lake Crescent Lodge’s 100th anniversary.

Through industry changes and shifting markets, Bedford has kept his company strong by focusing on quality and adapting to trends—like switching to cane sugar. And with a new raspberry cream soda on the way, he’s not slowing down.

“It’s a matter of really putting the thought into where you want to end up. Business changes so fast. Now it’s very, very difficult to get started.”

Click here to listen to our full interview with Ed Bedford: https://www.myclallamcounty.com/episode/01-28-2025-ed-bedford-of-bedfords-soda-talks-40-years-of-business-wa-good-roads/