|
Nothing could be more quintessentially American than an ice-cold bottle of Coca-Cola, so it might surprise you that the drink was also incredibly popular in Nazi Germany. So much so, that many Germans were unaware of its American origins, believing it to be a German product.
Coca-Cola’s German subsidiary had its own factory to produce the drink, but the syrup with its highly secret ingredients still had to be imported from the U.S. This became first difficult, then downright impossible during World War II, forcing Max Keith, the head of Coca-Cola’s German branch, to develop an alternative product, one that could be produced even in the middle of wartime shortages. His team developed a new soft drink that could be made from leftovers: whey (a byproduct of cheesemaking), apple pomace (the remains of apple juice making) and sugar beet. The new drink was named Fanta.
Once the war was over, Coca-Cola repossessed its German factory, finding the recipe for Fanta and adopting it into its worldwide family of beverages. (It should be noted that modern Fanta is different from the original.)
|
