Coca-Cola, sometimes known simply as "Coke," is a brand name for the carbonated soft drink that is produced by the Coca-Cola Company. John Stith Pemberton, a resident of Atlanta, Georgia, is credited with coming up with the idea for the product in the latter half of the 19th century. Initially, it was meant to be a patent medication and was sold as a drink to promote sobriety. Pemberton sold the ownership rights to Coca-Cola to a businessman named Asa Griggs Candler in the year 1888. Candler's marketing strategies were the driving force behind Coca-rise Cola's to the top of the worldwide soft drink industry during the 20th and 21st centuries. The name of the beverage alludes to two of its primary components, which were originally coca leaves and kola nuts (a source of caffeine). Coca-present Cola's recipe is still a highly guarded trade secret; nonetheless, a number of other purported formulations and attempted recreations have been published. Only a small number of unnamed individuals at Coca-Cola are privy to the company's secret recipe, and the company has used this lack of transparency in its marketing. The beverage has given rise to an entire subgenre of carbonated soft drinks known as colas as a direct result of its popularity.
The Coca-Cola Company is responsible for the production of concentrate, which is subsequently distributed to licenced bottlers of Coca-Cola across the globe. The bottlers, who have exclusive territory contracts with the corporation, make the final product in cans and bottles from the concentrate by adding filtered water and sweeteners to the mixture. The cans and bottles contain the concentrate. The average can, which has a capacity of 350 millilitres (12 US fluid ounces), has sugar that weighs 38 grammes (1.3 ounces) (usually in the form of high-fructose corn syrup in North America). Following this step, the bottlers sell, distribute, and market Coca-Cola to retail shops, restaurants, and vending machines located all over the globe. Additionally, The Coca-Cola Company distributes concentrate to be used in the soda fountains of big restaurants as well as foodservice wholesalers.
The Coca-Cola Company has, on a few occasions, released other cola beverages with the Coke brand name. The most well-known of these is undoubtedly Diet Coke, but there are other variants such as Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola, Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Vanilla, and unique formulations with lemon, lime, and coffee. From July 1985 until 2009, Coca-Cola was known under the name Coca-Cola Classic in order to differentiate it from "New Coke." According to the "best global brand" research conducted by Interbrand in 2020, Coca-Cola ranked as the sixth most valuable brand in the world. In 2013, goods manufactured by Coca-Cola were sold in over 200 countries across the globe, and customers consumed more than 1.8 billion servings of corporate beverages every single day. Coca-Cola came in at position No. 87 on the 2018 Fortune 500 ranking of the top firms in terms of total revenue in the United States.