Coca-Cola - Then and Now

The iconic beverage was invented in 1886 by John Pemberton “Doc”, a pharmacist who had fought in the Civil War, and afterwards made up his mind to invent something that would help him to attain financial success. He aimed to make a unique tasting soft drink that could be sold at the refreshment counters of pharmacies. His partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson is attributed with naming the soda Coca-Cola and designing its trade-marketed distinct logo-script still used today. The beverage was initially sold for 5 cents a serving and sales averaged 9 servings per day in Atlanta. Today, daily average servings of Coca-Cola beverages combined are estimated at 1.9 billion, globally. Pemberton died in 1888, 2 years after creating what was to become the world’s top-selling beverage after having sold portions of his business to various parties.

The majority holder was Atlanta businessman Asa G. Candier, who began distribution of the beverage to soda fountains beyond the city of Atlanta. Eventually bottling machinery was installed in the rear of pharmacist Joseph Bredenham’s Mississippi pharmacy in order to realize his vision of making the beverage portable for customers. Just 5 years later, large-scale bottling was made possible in 1899 when three entrepreneurs in Chattanooga, Tennessee secured exclusive rights of distributorship by purchasing bottling rights from Asa Candier for the paltry sum of $1.00. What was he thinking? Benjamin Thomas, Joseph Whitehead and John Lupton developed what was to become the Coca-Cola worldwide bottling system.

Initial marketing efforts were in the form of coupons which offered consumers free samples, which was a very innovative touch in that era. This was followed by newspaper advertisements and promotional items with the iconic logo which were supplied to participating pharmacies. In 1977, the Hilltop Singers performed I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke and 1979’s mantra Have a Coke and Smile facilitated making the brand synonymous being equated with quality-of-life happiness concepts of “fun” and “good times”.

So what is in the world-famous beverage? Many have tried to answer this question. The company safe-guards the recipe to the extent that only 2 employees at any one time are supposed to know. The ingredients are a closely-guarded secret. Numerous chefs and food analysts concur that it contains 3 basic ingredients: caffeine, vanilla and caramel.

In his book, For God, Country and Coca-Cola Mark Pendergrast writes that he stumbled upon the recipe in the company’s own archives when doing research for his book.

Citrate Caffeine – 1 oz.
(Citrate comes from the bitter kola nut – the original formula doubles the amount currently used)

Extract Vanilla – 1 oz.

Flavoring – 2.5 oz.

F.E. Coca – 4 oz.
citric acid – 3 oz. (phosphoric acid is now included with citric acid to balance it out)
lime Juice – 1 quart
sugar – 30 lbs.
water – 2.5 gallons
caramel – sufficient

oil orange – 80 drops
oil lemon – 120 drops
oil nutmeg – 40 drops
oil cinnamon – 40 drops
oil coriander – 20 drops
oil neidi – 40 drops (from the blossom of the bitter lemon plant)
alcohol – 1 quart (let stand for 24 hours – used to extract the flavors and does not end up in the final soda)

The original 19th century contained cocaine which came from the coca leaves and was marketed as a “pick-me-up”. Noteworthy, is the fact that Coca-Cola wasn’t the only beverage at this time period to contain drugs.

Although the drink is bottled all over the world under franchise, the syrup for Coca-Cola is made in the U.S.A. by the Stepan Company located in Illinois, and the only company which is legally allowed to import cocaine containing coca leaves into the U.SA. The coca leaf ingredient is illegal before it has the cocaine taken out. The company extracts the cocaine and sells the leaves to Coke.