The President of the United States Donald Trump he publicly asked the Coca Cola to change his recipe, replacing glucose syrup (a sweetener that is obtained from the stroke of corn) with the brown sugar. But because the most famous drink recipe in the world is like that secret? Even today, in fact, the official formulation of Coca-Cola is kept in a caveau ad Atlantain the United States.
The idea of hiding the recipe in one safe He was born after the owner Ernest Woodruff he chose to use the formulation as a guarantee for a bank loan: from then on, this secrecy has been exploited by the company to its advantage, with the recent construction of a special caveau.
Over the years, the hypotheses and the indiscretions On the recipe they multiplied: the ingredients, however, are known because they are reported on the labels, but nobody knows accurately the doses nor the mix of aromas used. The company has always confirmed that she wants keep secret the formulation to protect the history of one’s product, even if over the years this aura of mystery Around the Coca-Cola he helped to make it more desirable.
Who created the Coca-Cola and because the recipe is still secret
Before you can understand why the recipe is so secret you have to take a step back: who created the Coca-Cola? As reported by the company itself, this drink was invented by the pharmacist John S. Pemberton In 1886 in Atlanta, in the USA: Coca-Cola, in fact, was born as a medicine Designed to treat headaches and stomach disorders. It was Pemberton who realized that, if mixed with carbonated waterhis drug could become a thirst -quenching drink.
In 1892, then, the name and rights on the formula were sold to the entrepreneur ASA CANDLERwhich later founded The Coca-Cola Company, starting a more sustained production. In all those years, however, the recipe was never put in writing and was revealed only to a restricted group of people, until in 1919 Ernest Woodruff He in turn acquired the company from the Candler family.
At that point, Woodruff decided to write the secret formula on a sheet and use it as Loan guarantee that he had requested to be able to buy the company. That leaflet was kept at the Guaranty Bank of New York Until 1925, when the loan was completely repaid.
It is from there that the idea of guarding the recipe in a safe: this expedient will then be exploited by the company to increase the desability of the brand and, at the same time, make sure that no one else competitors can access the complete list of ingredients and doses.
Once the loan has been repaid, Woodruff decided to claim the secret recipebringing her back to its city of origin and entrusting it to the Suntrust Company Bank. Today the formula is located in World of Coca-Cola Museum of Atlantawhere it was transferred in 2012 on the occasion of the 125th anniversary: the museum is open to the public and tourists can even visit the outside of the caveausealed with a huge steel door and equipped with palm scanner and numeric keypad.
How they made the recipe secret
But how is it possible that after more than 100 years the recipe is still secret? Initially, the only ones authorized to get to know the recipe would have been the president and vice -president of the Company: the two managers would even have been prohibited from travel togetherprecisely to prevent both of them from losing life simultaneously in the event of an accident.
Today, however, things should be change slightly: over the past few years it has been confirmed several times how the recipe has been revealed To some trusted employees. In any case, it would still be an extremely restricted group of few people, especially if we consider that The Coca-Cola Company has plants all over the world and gives work to about 700 thousand people.
At the same time, the company has chosen to do not patent The drink: the patents, in fact, have a deadline and once reached that date they become of public domain. In this way, the secret recipe should have been revealed, thus eliminating the halo of mystery around this drink that, in part, made it so desirable.
At this point, however, you are wondering: how is it possible that the recipe is so secret if ingredients are reported on Labels of each bottle? By law, the company is forced to reveal all the ingredients contained in the drink, but the specific doses and above all the aromas used (simply reported as “natural aromas”). According to some rumors, we should guess the exact mixture of about 40 compoundsincluding cinnamon, vanilla extract, orange and lemon should also appear.
In this regard, several research would confirm that, at least initially, the Coca-Cola contained coca leaves extractin extremely reduced quantities. Having been born as a medicine, it is possible that the formula contained these substances: in the 1920s, however, the formulation would have been changed, probably to eliminate them. In any case, the company always has denied the use of this ingredient within your drinks.
