“It was Fanta or nothing.” - Tristan Donovan
Coca-Cola was and still is one the most recognisable brands globally. It has fame, notoriety and success beyond measure. Since its inception in 1886 as a medicinal tonic, to its current iteration in 2023 as a beloved soft drink, it has gone through many trials and tribulations in the interim. Arguably, none more so than the WW2 trade embargo between the United States and Germany, which spurred the creation of a Coca-Cola alternative, the orange-flavoured drink, Fanta, solely for Nazi Germany. Popular in Ireland and across the world, the derivation of the name Fanta comes from the German work ‘fantastisch’ meaning fantastic. The United States and Germany enjoyed a wonderful trade relationship for decades until Hitler invaded Poland in 1939. When the US decided to cut ties with Germany in order to show a united front with the Allied powers, it had disastrous effects for Germany’s supply chain. Germany, at the time, had an insatiable demand for Coca-Cola. The trade embargo halted Germany’s ability to import the Coca-Cola syrup from the US needed to make the drink and in turn killed its ability to produce Coca-Cola. As with everything else, necessity is the mother of invention. With the demand for soft drinks in Nazi Germany at an all-time high, Germany needed to make a new soft drink, from ingredients that did not need to be imported from the United States. The leadership at the Coca-Cola factory within Germany located local ingredients aiming to mimic the flavour and consistency of coca cola. And so Fanta, the drink of choice of Nazi’s and of Nazi Germany, was created, which in turn led to the drink we see in stores and on shelves today.
As it was developed during the pomp of the Third Reich, it allowed the brand to continue its popularity and due to the fact, it was created in Germany, Fanta became a point of nationalistic pride and was adored by the German public. When Hitler made the decision to march into Austria, it was Coca Cola’s tenth year in Germany. He sold locally in Atlanta for 5 cents a glass. John Pemberton was a veteran of the Confederate Civil War and had war wounds. He suffered with great pain from a sabre wound situated on his back. While recovering from this, he was given morphine to relieve his pain. He became addicted to morphine as it is an opiate. Coca-Cola was Pemberton’s attempt at creating his own homemade painkiller less addictive than the morphine he had become reliant on. Two of the main ingredients in Pemberton’s new tonic were the coca leaf, which is now used in the production of cocaine and the kola nut. The combination of the two gave the drink its name. Cocaine is too highly addicted, which may explain the drinks rapid growth rate and expansion across the States and indeed the world. In 1933, right when Hitler and the Nazi Party were assuming power, German born Max Keith (pronounced ‘Kite’) took over the company’s German subsidiary, Coca-Cola GmbH. Keith was what we would now refer to as a ‘company man’, a man that loved and was dedicated to the company he worked for. The affiliation between the Coca-Cola organisation and Nazi Germany was at no point discouraged during this time. In America Coke was ran by Robert Woodruff.
Coca-Cola and Nazi Germany had such strong ties that Cock sponsored the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Robert Woodruff attended the games. The Coca-Cola logo was emblazoned on banners alongside the Swastika which were draped across the entire event. On the decade anniversary of Coca-Cola Keith organised a mass ‘Sieg-Heil’ salute in honour of Adolf Hitler ‘to commemorate our deepest admiration for our Fuhrer’ in a show of solidarity with Germany. However, the comradery between the two countries was short-lived and with America’s decision to intervene in WW2, this meant that an embargo was inevitable between the nations. When the trade embargo was initiated, Germany no longer had access to the American companies they had been accustomed to dealing with over the years. Car companies like GM and tech companies such as IBM in America were now forbidden to trade with the Germans but most devastating of all the restrictions was the Coca-Cola Headquarters in Atlanta cutting off all communications with Max Keith in Germany. This meant that the almost mythical Coca-Cola flavouring could no longer be imported into Germany and with that all access to Coke in Germany ceased. Coca-Cola in Germany was on the verge of going out of business.
It was now impossible for Keith to manufacture Coke. He knew that the Third Reich could come at any time to close the company that he loved dearly. Germany had an insatiable desire for Coke at this point and he knew that in order to keep the company trading he needed an alternative quickly. He needed it specifically for the German market as the newly imposed trade restrictions made things extremely difficult for him. He reached out to local chemists, Keith patched together a recipe within the limitations imposed by wartime rationing. It was made from the leftovers of other food industries, fruit shavings, apple fibres, pulp, beet sugar, and whey, the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained during cheese production all sourced with Germany. This was essential. Joe Knipp, a salesman, came up with the name ‘Fanta’ and it became the most popular drink in the entirety of Germany. At this time, Fanta was all he had to keep the company afloat. Fortunately for Keith, Fanta was also all Germany had. With few soft-drink alternatives, its popularity exploded. Its prominence allowed it to skirt the sugar rationing, making it the sweetest drink on the market. This made it increasingly popular as an additive in soups and stews. Sales gradually rose as it became a household staple. Keith then used his connections in the Third Reich to gain a position overseeing all Coca-Cola plants in Germany and the territories it conquered. This allowed him to spread Fanta across Europe and save other subsidiaries from shutting down. The German branch sold about 3 million cases of the drink before the war was over. When the Allies eventually marched on German factories, production of Fanta ceased, and Keith handed over the profits of his creation to Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta.
The version of the drink we know today gradually evolved from its Nazi Germany version into Fanta Orange, which was introduced to Italy in 1955 and made its way to America in 1958. This new beverage was a vibrant orange colour and was produced using local citrus ingredients, as opposed to leftover scraps. In this way, Coca-Cola continued to make a profitable product, while distancing itself from the associations it once had with the Third Reich. At least, for the most part. Coca-Cola launched an advert to celebrate Fanta's 75th anniversary in 2015. The company faced critical backlash for its apparent reference to World War II-era Germany as the "Good Old Times." As a response, Coca-Cola removed the ad and took the video down. They also issued a formal apology. The drink that was borne out of necessity in Nazi Germany from the scraps of local companies in an attempt to satiate the appetites of Germans for fizzy drinks in a war-torn country, culminated in the Fanta Orange we are familiar with today.