Max Keith

Max Keith was a German businessman who invented Fanta during World War II in Germany.^[1]

When he was 30 years old, he worked at a German subsidiary of Coca-Cola in 1933. Sales of Coca-Cola in Germany rose from 100,000 cases in 1933 to over 4 million cases in 1939. Because of the Allied blockade, Coca-Cola GmbH was unable to get Coca-Cola syrup during World War II. The supply of regular Coca-Cola ran out in 1942. To keep the plant in operation, Keith developed a fruit flavored drink made from apple fiber, left over from cider pressings, and whey, a byproduct from cheese manufacture, creating Fanta.^[2]

Fanta sold three million cases in 1943, sustaining the firm's business in Germany. In 1945, at the last stages of the war, Keith was ordered by a German general to rename the subsidiary, but he refused. The general was killed in an air raid before any action was taken against Keith.^[3]

1. ↑ Pendergrast, Mark (2013-05-14). For God, Country, and Coca-Cola. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-04699-7.
2. ↑ "History of the Soft Drink Fanta by The Historian | Culinary Arts 360". 2014-10-06. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
3. ↑ "Fanta and the Nazis". Snopes.com. Retrieved 2020-04-10.