COCA-COLA
INTRODUCTION
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines
internationally. The Coca-Cola Company claims that the beverage is sold in more than 200
countries.It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to
simply as Coke (a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company in the United States since
March 27, 1944). Originally intended as a patent medicine when it was invented in the late 19th
century by John Pemberton, Coca-Cola was bought out by businessman Asa Griggs Candler,
whose marketing tactics led Coke to its dominance of the world soft-drink market throughout the
20th century.
Being a bookkeeper, Frank Robinson also had excellent penmanship. It was he who first scripted
"Coca cola" into the flowing letters which has become the famous logo of today. The soft drink
was first sold to the public at the soda fountain in Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta on May 8, 1886.
About nine servings of the soft drink were sold each day. Sales for that first year added up to a
total of about $50. The funny thing was that it cost John Pemberton over $70 in expanses, so the
first year of sales were a loss.Until 1905, the soft drink, marketed as a tonic, contained extracts
of cocaine as well as the caffeine-rich kola nut.
The company produces concentrate, which is then sold to licensed Coca-Cola bottlers throughout
the world. The bottlers, who hold territorially exclusive contracts with the company, produce
finished product in cans and bottles from the concentrate in combination with filtered water and
sweeteners. The bottlers then sell, distribute and merchandise Coca-Cola to retail stores and
vending machines. Such bottlers include Coca-Cola Enterprises, which is the largest single Coca-
Cola bottler in North America and western Europe. The Coca-Cola Company also sells
concentrate for soda fountains to major restaurants and food service distributors.
The Coca-Cola Company has, on occasion, introduced other cola drinks under the Coke brand
name. The most common of these is Diet Coke, with others including Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola,
Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola Vanilla, and special
editions with lemon, lime or coffee.
In response to consumer insistence on a more natural product, the company is in the process of
phasing out E211, or sodium benzoate, the controversial additive used in Diet Coke and linked to
DNA damage in yeast cells and hyperactivity in children. The company has stated that it plans to
remove E211 from its other products, including Sprite and Oasis, as soon as a satisfactory
alternative is found.