Pepsi History

Pepsi-Cola was made at first in New Bern, North Carolina in the United States in the 1890s by pharmacist Caleb Bradham. In 1898, "Brad's drink" was changed to "Pepsi-Cola" and later trademarked on June 16, 1903. There are several theories on the origin of the word "pepsi".

The only two discussed within the current PepsiCo website are the following: 1) Caleb Bradham bought the name "Pep Kola" from a local competitor and changed it to Pepsi-Cola. 2) "Pepsi-Cola" is an anagram for "Episcopal" - a large church across the street from Bradham's drugstore. There is a plaque at the site of the original drugstore documenting this, though PepsiCo has denied this theory. Another theory is that Caleb Bradham and his customers simply thought the name sounded good or the fact that the drink had some kind of "pep" in it because it was a carbonated drink, they gave it the name "Pepsi". As Pepsi was initially intended to cure stomach pains, many believe Bradham coined the name Pepsi from either the condition dyspepsia (stomachache or indigestion) or the possible one-time use of pepsin root as an ingredient (often used to treat upset stomachs).[citation needed] It was made of carbonated water, sugar, vanilla, rare oils, and kola nuts. Whether the original recipe included the enzyme pepsin is disputed. In 1903, Bradham moved the bottling of Pepsi-Cola from his drugstore into a rented warehouse. That year, Bradham sold 7,968 gallons of syrup. The next year, Pepsi was sold in six-ounce bottles and sales increased to 19,848 gallons. In 1905, Pepsi received its first logo redesign since the original design of 1898. In 1906, the logo was changed again. In 1909, automobile race pioneer Barney Oldfield endorsed Pepsi-Cola in newspaper ads as "A bully drink...refreshing, invigorating, a fine bracer before a race".

In 1923, Pepsico went bankrupt due to high sugar prices as a result of World War I, assets were sold and Roy C. Megargel bought the Pepsi trademark. Eight years later, the company went bankrupt again, resulting in a reformulation of the Pepsi-Cola syrup formula. During The Great Depression, Pepsi gained popularity following the introduction in 1934 of a 12-ounce bottle. With twelve ounces a bottle instead of the six ounces Coca-Cola sold, PepsiCo turned the price difference to its advantage with a slick radio advertising campaign which was the first use of a jingle in advertising. "Pepsi cola hits the spot / Twelve full ounces, that's a lot / Twice as much for a nickel, too / Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you," encouraged price-watching consumers to switch to Pepsi, while obliquely referring to the Coca-Cola standard of six ounces a bottle for the price of five cents (a nickel), instead of the twelve ounces Pepsi sold at the same price. Coming at a time of economic crisis, the campaign succeeded in boosting Pepsi's status. From 1936 to 1938, PepsiCo's profits doubled.

The product Introduced in 1964, Diet Pepsi was the United States's first national diet soft drink.

Coca Cola History

Coca-Cola was invented on May of 1886 by Dr John Styth Pemberton in Atlanta. The name Coca-Cola was suggested by Pemberton's book-keeper, Frank Robinson. He penned the name Coca-Cola in the flowing script that is famous today. Coca-Cola was first sold at the soda fountain in Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta. During the first year, sales of Coca-Cola aproximatly nine drinks a day, earning a total sales of of $50 in that year. Today, products of The Coca-Cola Company are consumed at the rate of more than one billion drinks per day in over 200 countries. Coca-Cola first arrived in Great Britain in 1900 when Charles Candler, the owner of The Coca-Cola Company, brought a jug of syrup with him in a visit to London. It was first sold in Great Britain on 31st August 1900 and later went on regular sale through soda fountain, which included Selfridges and The London Coliseum.

August 31st 2000 marked the 100th anniversary of the arrival of Coca-Cola in Great Britain, and to celebrate the occasion we unveiled an historic plaque to commemorate Britain's favourite soft drink.The plaque shown below was unveiled by championship boxer and Olympic athlete Audley Harrison and other attending Special Olympics athletes. Coca-Cola has supported the Olympics since 1928 and the Special Olympics since 1968. The plaque was located at 76-79, St Paul's Churchyard, London EC4, the site where the first Coca-Cola was poured in the basement restaurant of Spence's department store, a silk merchant and general goods store. In 1999 The Coca-Cola Company purchased the soft drinks brands of Cadbury Schweppes plc in various countries, including Great Britain. This resulted in the extension of our existing product range which included Coca-Cola, diet Coke, Coca-Cola Cherry, Fanta, Sprite, Lilt and Five Alive to include the Schweppes' range, Dr Pepper, Oasis, Kia-Ora and Malvern water.

The Coca-Cola brand will always be the number one focus for CCGB but product innovation plays a vital role in the Company's business and future. In October 2001 the isotonic sports drink Powerade was launched, followed by the introduction of other brands including diet Coke with Lemon, Coca-Cola Vanilla and diet Coke Vanilla. In 2004, Fanta Apple Splash, our first low sugar brand, was launched. In 2004 The Coca-Cola Company's share of the carbonated soft drinks category in Great Britain was 45.3%, and market share of the non-alcoholic beverages was 9.9%. Source: Canadean 2004 In 2005, they launched their fifth diet Coke varient, diet Coke with Lime, and relaunched our range of diet fruit carbonates (Fanta, Sprite, Lilt and Dr Pepper) as the 'Z', for zero added sugar, range. they also introduced a new Fanta choice - Fanta Summer Fruits. Another new development in 2005 was the reformulation of Oasis to reduce the sugar content. These developments meant that by the end of 2005, over 35% of our sales by volume were either low in sugar or diet/light drinks. The last product launched by Coca-Cola company was en july of 2006 and it was named Coca-Cola Zero, this name was choiced because of its zero sugar taste.