British consul gets taste of Waco and Dr Pepper on Texas road … – Waco Tribune-Herald

British Consul General Richard Hyde had an item to cross off his bucket list as he made the rounds with local officials Tuesday during an economic development tour of Texas.

Hyde, who represents the United Kingdom from his office in Houston,stopped by the Dr Pepper Museum in downtown Waco for a quick tour of the former bottling plant and a dose of his favorite soft drink.

British Consul General Richard Hyde gets a drink at the Dr Pepper Museum during a stop in Waco on a Texas road trip.

Hyde said he learned only recently that Dr Pepper was invented in Waco. He said the drink tastes better in the U.S. than in the United Kingdom, where it is not as common.

"I love it," he said, with a plastic cup of Diet Dr Pepper in his hand. "Growing up in England we never had Dr Pepper. We were introduced to it only through fountain drinks. It was only when I came here that I realized actually ... this is by far the best diet drink."

Hyde and senior staff from the consulate began their 1,600-mile tour last week in Grand Prairie, traveling northwest toward Lubbock then to Amarillo before making the trip back southeast. Hyde said the road trip will help the staff get a better understanding of the Lone Star State, helping to inform trade discussions and opportunities.

Hyde said hes been doing the Texas trips for four years, traveling the first time to Midland, Odessa and El Paso before making his way down the border to Boca Chica. In September 2022 he embarked on a second trip to Texarkana, Kilgore, Nacogdoches and Wichita Falls, but the trip was cut short when Queen Elizabeth II passed away that month.

We were determined to find an opportunity to come out and finish the job and go to the Panhandle and visit all those kind of much more remote areas of Texas for us, he said. Now, Waco doesnt really fit into that because Waco is somewhere thats much, much closer to home, but its a town that we too often just go through because were flitting backwards and forwards to Dallas, to Austin.

British Consul General Richard Hyde made a stop Tuesday at the Dr Pepper Museum during a tour of Texas.

The road trips focus on cities outside of the Houston, Dallas and Austin the Texas Trianglespending time in more rural areas to better understand the full picture of Texas economic opportunities for U.K. investors.

We spent a lot of time shuttling between the big cities and thats great, I mean, theyre hugely important, massive cities, Hyde said. But we actually think theres a lot more across Texas that we need to understand in order to help companies who are looking to establish in Texas to have a full kind of range of options.

By getting their boots dirty, he said he hopes to show Texans that the U.K. population is young and dynamic, while also reversing Texas stereotypes in the U.K. to tell a more accurate tale and in turn better facilitate relationships.

The U.K.-U.S. relationship is so important, and what we spend a lot of time doing really is trying to paint a picture of Texas that reflects the modernity, the diversity, the economic opportunity, he said.

Christina Luhn, senior trade policy adviser from the U.S., said her job is to help her British counterparts understand the cultural signposts and iconic symbols in Texas. Hyde credited Luhn for encouraging the tour, as "youve got to get to every bit of the state to understand the state.

British Consul General Richard Hyde (left) and Deputy Consul General Tim Cork take a look at ingredients at the Dr Pepper Museum during their stop in Waco. Senior staff from the British Consulate in Houston are taking a tour around Texas to better understand the state in pursuit of economic opportunities.

Many of the cities the group has visited along the way are smaller, more rural cities that arent growing in population, but Waco doesnt fit that mold, Hyde said. Even though Waco is surrounded by big magnet cities, it is growing significantly and there are some big companies finding a home here, he said.

You know, we were asking what were the big sectors? he said. We were quite surprised to hear theres quite a big service-based industry here as well, and that really surprised me a little bit because the U.K. is very much a service-based economy, financial services, legal services, professional services, and so were always looking for opportunities to kind of promote that.

Hyde said hes also interested in looking at how to foster better academic collaborations between U.K. and Texas universities, naming Baylor and Texas Tech University along his route.

Through conversations with farmers hes learned about cattle, dairy and crop industries and the hardships they face, and he said hell take what hes gained on his trip back to his Houston office to find the best opportunities for both Texas and the U.K. Though they may reside in rural areas, those farmers at the heart of the global market are using highly advanced technology and trading globally, Deputy Consul General Tim Cork said.

Its really big economically, but its also really big culturally as well, Hyde said. So you know, Texans associate closely with kind of rural, rugged individualism so being able to talk to farmers gives you a real flavor of whats going on."

British Consul General Richard Hyde made a stop by the Dr Pepper Museum on Tuesday during a tour of Texas.

On Hydes visit Tuesday he met with Mayor Dillon Meek and the Waco economic development team, the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce and the Texas Farm Bureau, engaging in conversations about what makes Texans tick.

Hyde and Cork shared connections theyve noticed between the U.K. and Texas on their trip, like when they were given a recommendation for a steak restaurant in Amarillo and found out it was British-owned, or when they found out that Dean Sandeep Mazumder of Baylors Hankamer School of Business is also British.

Theres always a British link, Cork said.

At the Dr Pepper Museum, Cork, Luhn and Hyde swapped memories about their first experiences with the Waco-born beverage.

Luhn, the American adviser, shared stories of being a young kid and bottling her own fresh Dr Pepper on an old-school bottling machine.

The three went back and forth trying to decide who is a "pepper," defined by the Dr Pepper Company as a person who loved Dr Pepper. Theyre positive, self-confident, bold, and willing to try something new. Peppers are proud. And Peppers are popular, according to a plaque on the wall of the museum.

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British consul gets taste of Waco and Dr Pepper on Texas road ... - Waco Tribune-Herald