Max Keith
Max Keith (/kaɪt/ KYTE; 1903–1974) was a German businessman who was the head of Coca-Cola GmbH, the major bottler of Coca-Cola in Nazi Germany, during World War II. He is best known for creating the soft drink Fanta.
Career
[edit]Keith began working at the German subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company in 1933, which was then led by the American Ray Rivington Powers. Between 1933 and 1939, sales of Coca-Cola in Germany rose from 100,000 cases to over 4 million. Following Powers's death in 1938, Keith took over the subsidiary. After the outbreak of World War II, Keith worked with the German bureaucracy and was appointed to the Office of Enemy Property, thus avoiding nationalization of the subsidiary.[1][2]
Coca-Cola GmbH was unable to obtain Coca-Cola syrup during the war because of the Allied blockade. The supply of regular Coca-Cola ran out in 1942, having been reserved primarily for wounded soldiers in hospitals.[2] To keep the plants in operation, Keith developed a fruit-flavored drink made from available ingredients, including apple fiber from cider pressings, whey (a byproduct of cheesemaking), and beet sugar, creating Fanta.[3] The drink sold 3 million cases in 1943, sustaining the firm's business in Germany.[2] In 1945, during the final stages of the war, Keith was ordered by a German general to rename the subsidiary, but he refused, and the general was killed in an air raid before any action was taken against Keith.[2]
Legacy
[edit]A street in Essen, the site of Coca-Cola GmbH's former headquarters, is named after him.[4]
References
[edit]- ↑ "History of the Soft Drink Fanta". Culinary Arts 360. RR Donely. December 4, 2007. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 Pendergrast, Mark (2013). For God, Country & Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It (3rd ed.). United States: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0465029174.
- ↑ "FACT CHECK: Fanta and the Nazis". Snopes.com. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
- ↑ Szymaniak, Peter (December 27, 2010). "Neues Leben auf altem Coca-Cola-Gelände". waz.de (in German). Retrieved October 10, 2024.
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