Quantium Cast Episode 61: The Rise of The Coca-Cola Company #3 - A Bottler's Dream

Ryan Kia (of quantiumresearch.co.uk) takes a look at the "Rise of The Coca-Cola Company":

Coca Cola is one of the most iconic brands on the planet. But with 127 years of history, it has been a long and bumpy road.

Part 3 looks at the developments leading up to an explosion in the demand for bottled coke in the domestic American consumer market

Previously on "The Rise of The Coca-Cola Company":

In last week's episode of the "Quantium Cast", we introduced two new characters: Benjamin Franklin Thomas and Joseph Brown Whitehead.

These two characters presented a proposition of bottling coke to Asa Candler (the CEO of the coca-cola company at the time). We also included some context surrounding the come-up of Asa Candler. We then arrive at his firm response to the bottling proposition, influenced heavily by his past attachment to the business, seeing as he had been building up the coca-cola brand for over a decade. Candler believed that the cost of the bottling machinery and the general capital expenditure required would simply be too much for the firm to handle. He also believed that investing in such a risky idea for the firm would be unnecessary as they had been delivering growth on profit forecasts, year after year.

Candler ultimately relented and, under the assumption that Thomas and Whitehead would likely bankrupt themselves, Candler issued the two businessmen with "perpetual contracts" of which consisted of them purchasing the syrup from Coke at a large mark-up to use in bottling coke. 

In next week's episode, we will be looking at how the bottlers engaged with the coca-cola company (and any disputes). We will then round the episode off with an introduction to "Candler's great mistake", leading to his sale of the company in 1919. 

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