Editing Gerard Paap (section)

== Career ==
Paap founded Paapist as a small beverage label supplying caffeinated soft drinks through shops and garages in [[South Holland]]. Night kiosks and suppliers near railway facilities later stocked the drink. The company's early customer base included dock and railway workers who purchased it during long shifts.<ref name="paapist-history"/>

During the mid-1990s, Paapist adopted purple packaging. The colour first appeared on cans and delivery boxes before being used on promotional shirts and retailer signs. By the late 1990s, the company had established a regular market in Rotterdam. Clothing originally produced for promotional use later became a regular product line sold alongside the energy drink.<ref name="paapist-history"/>

During the early 2000s, Paapist began using local television commercials. [[Koen Paap]] appeared in one commercial as a freight train operator while wearing purple Paapist clothing. The commercial marketed the drink to railway and freight workers.<ref name="koen-commercial"/>

In 2011, the [[Noordelijke Gezondheidsinspectie]] investigated Paapist following complaints from schools and municipal health workers in Rotterdam. Railway employers also raised concerns about consumption during long shifts. The investigation found that the drink contained more caffeine and sugar than most soft drinks sold through the same outlets. It also recorded higher acidity. Paapist added a warning label to its larger cans in 2012 but retained the main formula.<ref name="paapist-health"/>