26. A Popular Drink’s Origins in the Evil Third Reich During WWII
Fanta is one of Coca-Cola’s most popular products, sold in 188 countries with more than 70 flavors. A lesser-known fact is that it was first concocted and manufactured in the evil days of Nazi Germany during World War II. Its story started in the years leading up to the war, when Coca-Cola’s greatest international success was its German branch, Coca-Cola Deutschland (Coca-Cola GmbH). Germans loved Coke, and consumed it at such a rate that record sales were set year after year in the Third Reich.
The company’s German branch flourished under American-born director Ray Powers, and continued to flourish under his successor, Max Keith, after Powers died in a car accident in 1938. By the time WWII broke out in 1939, the soft drink giant had 43 bottling plants and over 600 local distributors. The war disrupted that love affair between Germans and Coke. Keith communicated with the parent company that he would try to keep operations running in Germany for as long as he could.