Because It’s Fun and Tastes Good

© Coca-Cola

Invented in 1940 in Germany and bottled for the first time in 1955 for Coca-Cola in Italy, the famous yellow soft drink has made its triumphal march around the world and recently celebrated its 70th birthday. Today, it is in almost 200 countries and has more than 70 different flavours which are individually tailored to regional preferences.

For more than seven decades now, Fanta, the successful orange soft drink from the Coca-Cola Company, has symbolised good spirit and a vital joie de vivre. Whether in Berlin or New Delhi, Milan or Dublin, Tokyo or New York: There is hardly a place on earth anymore which doesn’t know Fanta.

From Whey Drink to Successful Brand

Fanta was invented during the middle of the Second World War. Raw materials were scarce so that no Coca-Cola could be produced. Owing to such shortages, a drink was developed whose ingredients were also available during the war years: Whey – a natural product which is created during curd and cheese production. At that time, its own employees were asked to participate in a competition in order to find a name for the innovative soft drink. “Fanta” – from “fantastic” and “fanciful” – prevailed and was supposed to become the saviour for the entire group of companies in Germany. After the war, the triumphal march around the globe began – although production of Coca-Cola had long since been able to be resumed. Now, the Fanta brand stood for sparkling refreshment. The sales employees used all channels and locations in order to introduce Fanta to as many consumers as possible. Even back then, this amounted to a gigantic overall marketing campaign: With pushcarts, old delivery trucks and briefcases filled with ice, the sales employees posted themselves everywhere where there was something going on: Swimming pool openings, city festivals or sporting events. Thus, Fanta conquered Germany in the 1940s, Europe in the 1950s and the rest of the world in the 1960s. With new flavours constantly appearing on the market, Fanta has played a big role in the childhood of entire generations over the course of the last 70 years.

Bottling of Coca-Cola Starts in Italy

The orange-flavoured formula originated in Italy where the successful refreshment beverage opened a new chapter in 1955: An Italian bottler from Naples wanted to produce a refreshment beverage with an orange flavour under the umbrella of the “The Coca-Cola Company”. The executive management at Coca-Cola approved it and, in April 1955, the first Fanta with the orange-flavoured formula left the bottling facility in Naples.

At this point in time, Fanta’s career also started towards becoming a brand icon owing in large part to the ring bottle with its anti-slip horizontal rings and the “twin peak” logo which was affixed to the glass bottle. It was designed by the French star designer Raymond Loewy, the pioneer of the American industrial design.

Country-Specific Flavours

Already in November 1955, the bottling of Fanta was started in Australia. The following year, production began in the USA. Thus, the brand was becoming more and more popular and was already known in 36 countries in 1960. Already at this point in time, there were more than ten different flavours. The unique feature of the Fanta brand is that - even up to the present - it is oriented to the individual preferences of the individual countries because not every variant has been equally successful in every country. Thus, the numerous different formulas also reflect the various countries and cultures of the world. In one country, the taste is sweeter; in another country, it is fruitier – always depending upon the respective regional preferences.

In 1960, “The Coca-Cola Company” founded the “Fanta Beverage Company” in Atlanta. In 1968, the Fanta family expanded with Sprite, the offshoot with the lemon taste. In the 1970s, the Mezzo Mix, Lift Apfelschorle [apple spritzer], etc. followed. The assortment grew as the flavours expanded rapidly through, for example, Fanta Mango, Fanta Sour Orange, Fanta Pink Grapefruit, Mandarine, Lime, Wild Berries or Fresh Lemon.

Even the Cold War couldn’t stop Fanta’s triumphal march across the Soviet borders. At the Olympic Summer Games in 1980 in Moscow, the cult drink also became a huge success there. In 1984, the first low-calorie variants hit the market in the USA: Fanta Diet. That year, Fanta also successfully makes the leap to Asia: A bottling facility in China starts production. India follows in 1994, Vietnam in 1996.

Splash Bottle Replaces Ring Bottle

In 2004, the Fanta splash bottle replaces the famous ring bottle. The London designer Zak Elia designs the unmistakable PET bottle. The unusual form is supposed to represent the temperament of the brand while the curvature in the middle reminds one of an orange.

The refreshment beverage’s formula is also continuing to be developed. Scandinavia was the pioneer of the now diverse European low-calorie variants and, since 2009, there has been a soft drink in a modified formula which does not have artificial aromas and colorants.