The Coca-Cola celebrated its 100th anniversary on Thursday, May 8, 1986.
First produced in May 1886, Coca-Cola was sold to 155 countries by the mid-1980s.
In Fiji, it was bottled by Island Bottlers Limited. Peter Lee, the marketing manager of Island Bottlers, said the three factories in Fiji-in Suva, Lautoka and Labasa, had so far produced 30 million bottles of Coke since the factory in Suva went into production in 1972.
In 1886, an American pharmacist, Dr John Pemberton, developed the drink and it was sold then at 5c a glass.
He first sold it at Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia.
In the first year, Dr Pemberton sold an average of 13 drinks a day and his revenue amounted to just $35. Coca-Cola now (1986) averages 400 million servings daily worldwide.
The Coca-Cola Company was first registered in Fiji in 1942, but it was not until February 1972 that Island Bottlers brought the franchise to produce the product.
“The success of the product lies in its formula which has never changed in the last hundred years,” Mr Lee said.
In 1936, the Coca-Cola Company produced a new formula used in making Diet-coke.
The new product had sugar removed and was a drink for diabetics and diet fanatics, he said.
From one iconic drink, Coca-Cola is now a total beverage company with over 200 beverage brands and 700,000 employees across company and bottling partners.
