Like The war intensified in the early 1940sMachines whirred and bottles clinked in small factories and old farmhouses. Nazi GermanyA mixture of apple cores, stems, and peel was poured into large containers and mixed with a watery liquid left over from the whey.

It’s hard to imagine, but this strange creation was the beginning of one of the UK’s best-loved games, Fanta. drinks Today.

Accordingly YouGovThe neon-orange soda can is the country’s 7th most famous drink. Robinsons, Ribena and PG Tips are in the top three places with the following results: Coca Cola 13th most popular.

Fanta’s special editions like Blood Orange, ‘Haunted’ Apple and even Peri-Peri sauce variety Over the years they have graced our supermarket shelves.

But while anyone can choose a Fanta from a range of soft drinks; Not all of us know the controversial story behind its creation in 1940.

Coca Cola in Nazi Germany

The person who came up with the idea for Fanta while he was head of Coca-Cola Deutschland was German businessman Max Keith. First introduced in Germany in 1929, the brown substance became hugely popular before the war, and between 1933 and 1939 saw the number of cases of coke sold in the country rise from 100,000 to 4.5 million per year.

However, the ‘self-sufficiency regime’ introduced by Adolf Hitler deterred Germans from working with foreign companies. As a result, Keith tried to convince the leader of the Nazi Party how Coca-Cola Deutschland deserved to continue its operations, despite all the odds. The beverage company’s US origins.

‘Max Keith was devoted to Coca-Cola,’ says author Mark Pendergrast Metro From his home in Vermont. his book In the name of God, Country and Coca-Cola explores the history of the drink.

Mark explains: ‘Keith had to collaborate with the Nazis to stay in business, even though he never joined the Nazi party. But he provided the military with extra rations of Coca-Cola and displayed giant swastikas next to the Coca-Cola logo at his conventions. He also had a “Hitler-esque” moustache.’

Meanwhile, branded trucks were coming behind them. Hitler Youth marches were held and drinks were frequently spilled at government meetings. Adolf Hitler reportedly sipped Coca-Cola while watching Gone with the Wind in his private cinema.

In 1939, Keith organized a 10th birthday party for Coca-Cola Deutschland that served as a Sieg-Heil (Nazi Salute) for Hitler. The businessman said he wanted to ‘commemorate our deepest admiration for our Fuhrer’.

Klaus Putter, former head of Coke in Europe, told Mark in an interview for his book: ‘Max Keith tried not to offend those in power. He was a very skilled negotiator, a careful man. As you know, if you live in a country ruled by a dictatorship, you should pay attention to your language and be very careful. If your neighbor hears you say something against Hitler, he comes and picks you up at night and you leave. One wrong step, one wrong word would be fatal.’

Mark notes that Keith’s ‘loyalty is to Coca-Cola, not Hitler’.

‘Trading with the Enemy’

But everything changed for Coca-Cola Deutschland in 1941. On December 7, Japan launched a campaign. Surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. As a result, America was dragged into World War II. No longer an impartial observer of the conflict, the ‘Trading with the Enemy Act’ meant that US supplies of Coca Cola syrup were blocked. no longer shipped to Germany.

So Keith created a new drink with ‘leftovers’ that would later become Fanta.

‘It probably didn’t taste very good, but at least it was nutritious,’ explains Mark. ‘It was sweetened with beet sugar, so many people used it as the base of soups. There was a contest to name the drink, and one worker blurted out: “It must be Fantastisch, but how about Fanta?”

To create the product, Keith employed former convicts and POWs to work in dilapidated farmhouses and old dairies on the outskirts of cities to avoid bombings. It didn’t taste like Coke, but it still became popular. Fanta wasn’t always drunk alone; Some Germans used it as a sweetener in dishes such as casseroles to alleviate the wartime sugar tax. When the ingredients for Coca-Cola production ran out in 1942, Fanta kept the Coca Cola Deutschland franchise afloat until 1945.

According to the book The Americanization of Germany by the late Ralph Willett, Keith quickly sent a telegram to Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Atlanta after the conflict ended. He wrote: ‘Coca-Cola still works. ‘Send the inspectors.’

Production of Fanta ended at this point as Coca-Cola returned to Germany, the drink being seen as a temporary replacement for its predecessor… or so Keith thought.

Fanta’s return

Coca Cola bosses were looking for a new drink to launch in response to the Pepsi company’s growth in the 1950s. Since Fanta had a somewhat recognizable name, they thought bringing back the soft drink would give them an advantage over their competitors.

Mark explains: ‘When the war ended, the Coca-Cola Company treated Keith like a hero. ‘He eventually took over most of the business in Europe. It was only in 1955 that the company decided to use Fanta for its new orange and grape-flavored drinks because it had an old trademark. ‘No one knew or cared that it was actually caused by Nazi Germany.’

The new version of Fanta is bottled in Italy and focuses more on the citrus flavor; There were no ‘leftovers’ in this iteration of the drink.

‘Good Old Times’

For decades Fanta enjoyed a new life. People either forgot about the drink’s origins in Nazi Germany or, as Mark suggests, just didn’t care.

However, in 2015, Fanta’s 75th anniversary edition was released. We made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

The drink was packaged in glass bottles and the recipe was modified to include ‘wartime flavours’ such as whey and pomace. An advertisement released to celebrate the anniversary spoke of a desire to bring back ‘the feeling of the Good Old Times’. Angry customers pointed out the atrocities that took place under Hitler 75 years ago and how Fanta only existed thanks to Nazism.

The advert was pulled and a spokesman said the slogan was intended to ‘evoke positive childhood memories’ and insisted the company had ‘no association with Hitler or the Nazi Party’.

Fanta is successful

Today there are more than 200 varieties of Fanta around the world. The drink Lilt (manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company) was recently discontinued and replaced by Fanta Pineapple and Grapefruit in order to reduce costs. The new flavor is said to have the ‘totally tropical same taste’ as Lilt.

Having accessed company archives and speaking with several former Coca-Cola employees, Mark explores the history of iconic drinks like Fanta in his book, but also revisits his personal connection to the brand.

Growing up in Atlanta Georgia, the birthplace of Coca-Cola, his father made wire display cases for cold drinks, while his grandmother was close to businessman Robert Woodruff, who was president of The Coca-Cola Company from 1923 to 1955.

‘My mother wouldn’t let me drink coke,’ recalls Mark, 76. ‘He thought it was bad for me. So I had to sneak it into my friends’ houses.’ Because of his family ties, Mark felt it was ‘natural’ to explore the wider impact the brand had on the pages. For God, Country and Coca-Cola.

But when Mark sits down to write on a hot summer day, he doesn’t have a Coca-Cola or Fanta with him. ‘Mostly iced tea,’ he admits.

The Coca-Cola Company has been contacted by Metro.co.uk for comment.

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