38-692: The Western Auto Building , first known as the Coca-Cola Building or the Candler Building, after owner Asa Griggs Candler , is located at 2107 Grand Boulevard, in the Crossroads neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri . Built in 1914, it later served as the headquarters of the Western Auto Supply Company and became known by that association, especially when the company put a multi-story lighted sign on top of
76-549: A "brain and nerve tonic". Coca leaves were used in Coca-Cola's preparation; the small amount of cocaine they contained – along with caffeine originally sourced from kola nuts – provided the drink's "tonic" quality. In 1903, cocaine was removed, leaving caffeine as the sole stimulant ingredient, and all medicinal claims were dropped. By one account, as of 1983 the FDA continued to screen random samples of Coca-Cola syrup for
114-436: A drink that relieved mental and physical fatigue, and cured headaches. In 1903, Candler decided to remove the cocaine component from the coca leaves before mixing them with the drink, and to sell the extracted cocaine to pharmaceutical companies. In 1911, the company reached an annual advertising budget of $ 1 million. In 1915, the bottling company Root Glass Co. created the iconic Coca-Cola bottle. In 1916, after Candler
152-516: A recipe in "Everett Beal's Recipe Book", reproduced in the February 28, 1979 issue of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution , that they believed was either Pemberton's original formula for Coca-Cola, or a version that he made either before or after the product was first sold in 1886. The formula is very similar to the one found in Pemberton's diary. Coca-Cola archivist Phil Mooney acknowledged that
190-542: A residential loft condominium. Asa Griggs Candler Asa Griggs Candler Sr. (December 30, 1851 – March 12, 1929) was an American business tycoon and politician who in 1888 purchased the Coca-Cola recipe for $ 238.98 from chemist John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia . Candler founded The Coca-Cola Company in 1892 and developed it as a major company. Prominent among civic leaders of Atlanta, Candler
228-450: Is a closely guarded trade secret . Company founder Asa Candler initiated the veil of secrecy that surrounds the formula in 1891 as a publicity , marketing , and intellectual property protection strategy. While several recipes, each purporting to be the authentic formula, have been published, the company maintains that the actual formula remains (allegedly) a secret, known only to a very few select (and anonymous) employees. The claim that
266-582: Is now known as the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore, Maryland . Asa Griggs Candler was born on December 30, 1851, in Villa Rica, Georgia . His parents were Martha and Samuel Charles Candler, a merchant and property owner. His parents raised eleven children, including Asa and his brother Warren Akin Candler . Samuel Charles Candler was a member of the legislature of South Carolina , and fought in
304-478: Is thought to come from vanilla and cinnamon , with trace amounts of essential oils, and spices such as nutmeg . A 2014 study identified and measured 58 aroma compounds in the top three US brands of cola, confirming significant amounts of compounds found in the essential oils of cinnamon, lemon, orange, neroli , coriander, nutmeg and vanilla. During the 1980s, most U.S. Coca-Cola bottlers switched their primary sweetening ingredient from cane sugar (sucrose) to
342-437: Is thought to contain a mixture of essential oils such as orange , lime , lemon , and lavender . Despite the implications of its name, there is no evidence that the current version of Coca-Cola syrup contains kola nut extract, which was originally included for its caffeine content. The modern source of that additive is probably caffeine citrate , a byproduct of the decaffeination of coffee. The primary taste of Coca-Cola
380-542: Is triangular, and the architect reflected that shape in his design for the 12-story building. It was built in the commercial style , a more utilitarian style than was typical of contemporary architecture. It later was used as the headquarters of the Western Auto Supply Company . Its multi-story lighted sign tops the building. The building and its sign are visible from much of the Crossroads and
418-537: The Candler Building . It had intricately carved decorations and was 17 stories tall. It still stands at Peachtree and Auburn streets and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places , significant for its architectural detail and role as a company symbol. In 1912 the Candler Building in New York opened. In 1916, Candler was elected mayor of Atlanta (taking office in 1917). As mayor he balanced
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#1732781075228456-609: The Candler Hospital in Savannah, Georgia . Candler had paid to relocate Emory University from Oxford, Georgia , to Atlanta. Asa Candler suffered a stroke in 1926 and never recovered. He died on March 12, 1929, at Wesley Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia . He is buried at Westview Cemetery on the west side of Atlanta. The Candler Field Museum in Williamson, Georgia , has been established to commemorate
494-578: The Creek War of 1836 . Candler's children are: A druggist in 1888, Asa Griggs Candler met John Stith Pemberton and was intrigued by a sweet, carbonated drink he had developed. Candler bought the Coca-Cola recipe from Pemberton, for an amount rumored to be $ 2,300. The drink was derived from brewed coca leaves, as well as caffeine , carbonated water, and sugar. In 1892, he founded the Coca-Cola Company. The following year, he trademarked
532-476: The Supreme Court . As part of a settlement, the company agreed to reduce the amount of caffeine in its syrup. The company protects the secrecy of its syrup recipe by shipping ingredients to its syrup factories in the form of anonymous "merchandises", numbered 1 through 9. Factory managers are told the relative proportions of each numbered merchandise, and the mixing procedure, but not the ingredients in
570-541: The City of Atlanta for what became Candler Park . That year he also sold the Central Bank and Trust. Several Candler buildings were constructed as the Coca-Cola Company expanded in the early 20th century: — acting Mayor Coca-Cola formula The Coca-Cola Company 's formula for Coca-Cola syrup, which bottlers combine with carbonated water to create the company's flagship cola soft drink ,
608-434: The Coca-Cola Company, and instituted the shroud of secrecy that has since enveloped the formula. He also made changes to the ingredients list, which by most accounts improved the flavor, and entitled him to claim that anyone in possession of Pemberton's original formula no longer knew the "real" formula. In 1919, Ernest Woodruff led a group of investors in purchasing the company from Candler and his family. As collateral for
646-574: The Mexican product—which was not labeled in accordance with U.S. food labeling laws—outside the official Coca-Cola distribution network. In 2009, the Coca-Cola Company began officially importing Coca-Cola produced in Mexico, with proper labeling, for distribution through official channels. Coca-Cola inventor John Pemberton is said to have written the following recipe in his diary shortly before his death in 1888. The recipe does not specify when or how
684-506: The U.S. and Canada. Although the new formulation had beaten both Pepsi-Cola and the old Coke formula in multiple blind taste tests, consumer response was overwhelmingly negative. The company quickly reintroduced the original beverage, rebranded as "Coca-Cola Classic", while continuing to market the new version as simply "Coke". The new version remained on the market, in North America only, for 17 years—the last 10 as "Coke II"—until it
722-679: The acquisition loan, Woodruff placed the only written copy of the formula in a vault at the Guaranty Trust Company of New York . In 1925, when the loan had been repaid, Woodruff relocated the written formula to the Trust Company Bank ( Truist Financial ) in Atlanta . On December 8, 2011, the company placed it in a vault on the grounds of the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, with the vault on public display. According to
760-528: The brand and distributed the first dividends to the company's shareholders. By 1895, the company was distributing Coca-Cola nationwide in the United States. It first started exporting in 1899, to Cuba . Exports to Europe started two years later. He also developed the famous "$ 1 contract" where he sold the rights to bottle Coca-Cola in the US for only one dollar. At first, the company advertised Coca-Cola as
798-602: The building. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. After serving as office space, it was redeveloped in the early 21st century as part of Western Auto Lofts, a condominium association incorporating three adjacent buildings. The twelve-story building was designed by Arthur C. Tufts & Co. and built in 1914 by the Swenson Construction Company, for the Coca-Cola Company . Asa Griggs Candler had bought
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#1732781075228836-549: The cheaper high-fructose corn syrup . As of 2009 , the only U.S. bottler still using sucrose year-round was the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Cleveland , which serves northern Ohio and a portion of Pennsylvania. Many bottlers outside the U.S. also continue to use sucrose as the primary sweetener. Twelve-US-fluid-ounce (355 ml) glass bottles of sucrose-sweetened Coca-Cola imported from Mexico are available in many U.S. markets for those consumers who prefer
874-493: The city budget and coordinated rebuilding efforts after the Great Atlanta fire of 1917 destroyed 1,500 homes. He also made large personal loans in order to develop the water and sewage facilities of the city of Atlanta, in order to provide the infrastructure necessary to a modern city. Candler was also a philanthropist , endowing numerous schools and universities (he gave a total of $ 7 million to Emory University , ) and
912-461: The company would neither confirm nor deny this, deferring to the secret nature of the formula. In 1911, the United States government sued the Coca-Cola Company for violations of the Pure Food and Drug Act , claiming that the high concentration of caffeine in Coca-Cola syrup was harmful to health. The case was decided in favor of Coca-Cola, but a portion of the decision was set aside in 1916 by
950-459: The company, only two employees are privy to the complete formula at any given time and they are not permitted to travel together. When one dies, the other must choose a successor within the company and impart the secret to that person. The identity of the two employees in possession of the secret is itself a secret. However, the company's "secret formula" policy is more of a marketing strategy than an actual trade secret: any competitor in possession of
988-410: The genuine Coke recipe would be unable to obtain key ingredients such as processed coca leaf, and even if all components were available, could not market the product as Coca-Cola. During the late 19th century, Coca-Cola was one of many popular coca -based drinks with purported medicinal properties and benefits to health; early marketing materials claimed that Coca-Cola alleviated headaches and acted as
1026-688: The ingredients are mixed, nor the flavoring oil quantity units of measure (though it implies that the "Merchandise 7X" was mixed first). This was common in recipes at the time, as it was assumed that preparers knew the method. Ingredients: Flavoring (Merchandise 7X): Recipe is from Food Flavorings: Composition, Manufacture and Use . Makes 1 US gallon (3.8 L; 0.83 imp gal) of syrup . Yield (used to flavor carbonated water at 1 US fl oz (30 ml) per bottle): 128 bottles, 6.5 US fl oz (190 ml). In 2011, Ira Glass announced on his Public Radio International show, This American Life , that show staffers had found
1064-420: The merchandises, some of which are themselves mixtures of more basic ingredients. Merchandise no. 1 is known to be sugar, in the form of high-fructose corn syrup or sucrose (see variations, below); caramel coloring is no. 2, caffeine is no. 3, and phosphoric acid is no. 4. The identities of merchandises 5 through 9 are a matter of debate – particularly "merchandise 7X" (the "X" has never been explained), which
1102-584: The original Candler Field, the first Atlanta airport. Callan Castle , the Candler home in Inman Park , built from 1902 to 1904, still stands as a private home. Candler's later mansion, built in 1916 at 1500 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Druid Hills , was later adapted for use as the John Chrysostom Melkite Greek Catholic Church . In 1922, he donated over 50 acres (200,000 m ) of his Druid Hills holdings to
1140-478: The presence of cocaine. Some sources claim that coca leaf chemically processed to remove the cocaine remains part of the formula as a flavoring. According to these accounts, the company obtains the ingredient from the Stepan Company of Maywood, New Jersey , which legally extracts cocaine from coca leaves for use in pharmaceuticals, then sells the processed leaf material for use in Coca-Cola. As of 2006
1178-619: The recipe for the drink in 1892, founded the company and rapidly expanded distribution of the product. He established new bases in the South and Midwest, and began to sell the soda drink in Cuba. First known as the Coca-Cola Building or Candler Building, this was one of several he had built through Coca-Cola. Candler's company headquarters occupied the elaborate Candler Building in Atlanta. This plot of land, originally purchased in 1913,
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1216-433: The recipe is only known to two (2) people and that they cannot fly on the same plane due to the chance they may die, and the recipe will become unknown, is a myth and has been fact-checked multiple times. Coca-Cola inventor John Pemberton is known to have shared his original formula with at least four people before his death in 1888. In 1891, Asa Candler purchased the rights to the formula from Pemberton's estate, founded
1254-478: The sucrose version (see "Mexican Coke", below). Coca-Cola was certified kosher in 1935 by Rabbi Tobias Geffen after beef tallow -derived glycerin was replaced with vegetable glycerin. However, the high-fructose corn syrup used by most U.S. bottlers since the 1980s is kitniyot (derived from grain/seeds/legumes) by the definitions of Jewish kosher law, and therefore forbidden to Ashkenazi Jews during Passover according to certain traditions. Each year, in
1292-476: The surrounding neighborhoods, and from Interstate 35 . This visibility, together with the structure's longevity, has made the Western Auto Building a city landmark. The sign was relit on July 13, 2018, at 8:45pm Central time, having been refurbished with funding from the condominium association. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It has been adapted as
1330-459: The weeks leading up to Passover, bottlers in markets with substantial Jewish populations switch to sucrose sweetener in order to obtain Kosher for Passover certification. In April 1985, in response to marketing research suggesting that a majority of North American consumers preferred the taste of rival Pepsi to Coca-Cola, the company introduced a sweeter, less effervescent version of Coca-Cola in
1368-623: Was elected and served as the 41st mayor of the city , from 1916 to 1919. Candler Field, the site of the present-day Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport , was named after him, as is Candler Park in Atlanta. As head of Coca-Cola, he built the Candler Building in Atlanta, as well as one in Kansas City (which became known as the Western Auto Building ), a Candler Building in New York City , and one in what
1406-489: Was elected mayor of Atlanta, he ended his day-to-day management of the Coca-Cola Company. In 1917, the Coca-Cola company agreed to reduce by 50% the amount of caffeine in the drink. In 1919 Candler gave most of the stock in The Coca-Cola Company to his children. They sold their shares to a consortium of investors led by Ernest Woodruff . In 1906 Candler completed what was then Atlanta's tallest building,
1444-493: Was quietly discontinued in 2002. The "Classic" designation remained on the original product's label, its prominence gradually decreasing over the years, until it was removed entirely in 2009. In the early 2000s, cane-sugar-sweetened Coca-Cola produced in Mexico began to appear in bodegas and Hispanic supermarkets in the Southwestern United States ; in 2005, Costco began offering it. All were obtaining
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