Coca-Cola History 1886 - Now

1886-1892

Atlanta Beginnings

The Place were Coca-Cola was sell

It was 1886, and in New York Harbour, workers were constructing the Statue of Liberty. Eight hundred miles away, another great American symbol was about to be unveiled.

Like many people who change history, John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, was inspired by simple

curiosity. One afternoon, he stirred up a fragrant, caramel-colored liquid and, when it was done, he carried it a few doors down to Jacobs' Pharmacy. Here, the mixture was combined with carbonated water and sampled by customers who all agreed that this new drink was something special So Jacobs' Pharmacy put it on sale for five cents a glass.  

Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, named the mixture Coca-Cola®, and wrote it out in his distinct script. To this day, Coca-Cola is written the same way. In the first year, Pemberton sold just 9 glasses of Coca-Cola a day.  

A century later, The Coca-Cola Company has produced more than 10 billion gallons of syrup. Unfortunately for Pemberton, he died in 1888 without realizing the success of the beverage he had created.  

Over the course of three years, 1888-1891, Atlanta businessman Asa Griggs Candler secured rights to the business for a total of about $2,300. Candler would become the Company's first president, and the first to bring real vision to the business and the brand.

Coca-Cola Add

1893-1904

Beyond Atlanta

Coca-Cola Add

Coca-Cola Add

Asa G. Candler, a natural born salesman, transformed Coca-Cola from an invention into a business. He knew there were thirsty people out there, and Candler found brilliant and innovative ways to introduce them to this exciting new refreshment. He gave away coupons for complimentary first tastes of Coca-Cola, and outfitted distributing pharmacists with clocks, urns, calendars and apothecary scales bearing the Coca-Cola brand. People saw Coca-Cola everywhere, and the aggressive promotion worked. By 1895, Candler had built syrup plants in Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles.  

Coca-Cola team

Inevitably, the soda's popularity led to a demand for it to be enjoyed in new ways. In 1894, a Mississippi businessman named Joseph Biedenharn became the first to put Coca-Cola in bottles. He sent 12 of them to Candler, who responded without enthusiasm.

Despite being a brilliant and innovative businessman, he didn't realize then that the future of Coca-Cola would be with portable, bottled beverages customers could take anywhere. He still didn't realize it five years later, when, in 1899, two Chattanooga lawyers, Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead, secured exclusive rights from Candler to bottle and sell the beverage -- for the sum of only one dollar.

  

1905-1918

Safeguarding the Brand

Coca-Cola transport

1st Bottle of Coca-Cola

The Coca-Cola Company was none too pleased about the proliferation of copycat beverages taking advantage of its success. This was a great product, and a great brand. Both needed to be protected. Advertising focused on the authenticity of Coca-Cola, urging consumers to "Demand the genuine" and "Accept no substitute."  

The Company also decided to create a distinctive bottle shape to assure people they were actually getting a real Coca-Cola. The Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, won a contest to design a bottle that could be recognized in the dark. In 1916, they began manufacturing the famous contour bottle. The contour bottle, which remains the signature shape of Coca-Cola today, was chosen for its attractive appearance, original design and the fact that, even in the dark, you could identify the genuine article.  

As the country roared into the new century, The Coca-Cola Company grew rapidly, moving into Canada, Panama, Cuba, Puerto Rico, France, and other countries and U.S. territories.  In 1900, there were two bottlers of Coca-Cola; by 1920, there would be about 1,000.

1919-1940

The Woodruff Legacy

Perhaps no person had more impact on The Coca-Cola Company than Robert Woodruff. In 1923, four years after his father Ernest purchased the Company from Asa Candler, Woodruff became the Company president. While Candler had introduced the U.S. to Coca-Cola, Woodruff would spend more than 60 years as Company leader introducing the beverage to the world beyond.

Woodruff was a marketing genius who saw opportunities for expansion everywhere. He led the expansion of Coca-Cola overseas and in 1928 introduced Coca-Cola to the Olympic Games for the first time when Coca-Cola traveled with the U.S. team to the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. Woodruff pushed development and distribution of the six-pack, the open top cooler, and many other innovations that made it easier for people to drink Coca-Cola at home or away. This new thinking made Coca-Cola not just a huge success, but a big part of people's lives.

1941-1959

The War and its Legacy

In 1941, America entered World War II. Thousands of men and women were sent overseas. The country, and Coca-Cola, rallied behind them. Woodruff ordered that "every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for 5 cents, wherever he is, and whatever it costs the Company." In 1943, General Dwight D. Eisenhower sent an urgent cablegram to Coca-Cola, requesting shipment of materials for 10 bottling plants. During the war, many people enjoyed their first taste of the beverage, and when peace finally came, the foundations were laid for Coca-Cola to do business overseas.  

Woodruff’s vision that Coca-Cola be placed within "arm's reach of desire," was coming true -- from the mid-1940s until 1960, the number of countries with bottling operations nearly doubled. Post-war America was alive with optimism and prosperity. Coca-Cola was part of a fun, carefree American lifestyle, and the imagery of its advertising -- happy couples at the drive-in, carefree moms driving big yellow convertibles -- reflected the spirit of the times.

1960-1981

A World of Customers

After 70 years of success with one brand, Coca-Cola®, the Company decided to expand with new flavors: Fanta®, originally developed in the 1940s and introduced in the 1950s; Sprite® followed in 1961, with TAB® in 1963 and Fresca® in 1966. In 1960, The Coca-Cola Company acquired The Minute Maid Company, adding an entirely new line of business -- juices -- to the Company.

1st Can bottel of Coca-Cola

The Company's presence worldwide was growing rapidly, and year after year, Coca-Cola found a home in more and more places: Cambodia, Montserrat, Paraguay, Macau, Turkey and more.  

Advertising for Coca-Cola, always an important and exciting part of its business, really came into its own in the 1970s, and reflected a brand connected with fun, friends and good times. The international appeal of Coca-Cola was embodied by a 1971 commercial, where a group of young people from all over the world gathered on a hilltop in Italy to sing "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke."  

In 1978, The Coca-Cola Company was selected as the only Company allowed selling packaged cold drinks in the People's Republic of China.

1982-1989

Diet Coke and New Coke

The 1980s -- the era of legwarmers, headbands and the fitness craze, and a time of much change and innovation at The Coca-Cola Company. In 1981, Roberto C. Goizueta became chairman of The Board of Directors and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. Goizueta, who fled Castro's Cuba in 1961, completely overhauled the Company with a strategy he called "intelligent risk taking."

Among his bold moves was organizing the numerous U.S. bottling operations into a new public company, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. He also led the introduction of diet Coke®, the very first extension of the Coca-Cola trademark; within two years, it had become the top low-calorie drink in the world, second in success only to Coca-Cola.

One of Goizueta's other initiatives, in 1985, was the release of a new taste for Coca-Cola, the first change in formulation in 99 years. In taste tests, people loved the new formula, commonly called “new Coke.” In the real world, they had a deep emotional attachment to the original, and they begged and pleaded to get it back. Critics called it the biggest marketing blunder ever. But the Company listened, and the original formula was returned to the market as Coca-Cola classic®, and the product began to increase its lead over the competition -- a lead that continues to this day.

1990-1999

New Markets and Brands

The 1990s were a time of continued growth for The Coca-Cola Company. The Company's long association with sports was strengthened during this decade, with ongoing support of the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup™ football (soccer), Rugby World Cup and the National Basketball Association. Coca-Cola classic became the Official Soft Drink of NASCAR racing, connecting the brand with one of the world's fastest growing and most popular spectator sports.  

And 1993 saw the introduction of the popular "Always Coca-Cola" advertising campaign, and the world met the lovable Coca-Cola Polar Bear for the first time. New markets opened up as Coca-Cola products were sold in East Germany in 1990 and returned to India in 1993.

New beverages joined the Company's line-up, including Powerade®  sports drink, Qoo® children's fruit drink and Dasani® bottled water. The Company's family of brands further expanded through acquisitions, including Limca®, Maaza® and Thums Up® in India, Barq's® root beer in the U.S., Inca Kola® in Peru, and Cadbury Schweppes'® beverage brands in more than 120 countries around the world. By 1997, the Company already sold 1 billion servings of its products every day, yet knew that opportunity for growth was still around every corner.

2000-Now

Coca-Cola Now

In 1886, Coca-Cola® brought refreshment to patrons of a small Atlanta pharmacy. Now well into its second century, the Company's goal is to provide magic every time someone drinks one of its more than 500 brands. Coca-Cola has fans from Boston to Budapest to Bahrain, drinking brands such as Ambasa, Vegitabeta and Frescolita. In the remotest comers of the globe, you can still find Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola is committed to local markets, paying attention to what people from different cultures and backgrounds like to drink, and where and how they want to drink it. With its bottling partners, the Company reaches out to the local communities it serves, believing that Coca-Cola exists to benefit and refresh everyone it touches.

From the early beginnings when just nine drinks a day were served, Coca-Cola has grown to the world’s most ubiquitous brand, with more than 1.7 billion beverage servings sold each day. When people choose to reach for one of The Coca-Cola Company brands, the Company wants that choice to be exciting and satisfying, every single time.