It’s been 80 years since the first Coke bottle rolled off the lines in Australia.
Coca-Cola has grown from one famous drink, four trucks and 10 people, to more than 165 drinks and a network of thousands of employees across the country.
Coca-Cola was invented by Dr. John Pemberton in 1886 in Atlanta USA and first began arriving to Australia in the early 1900s before production began locally.
The first Australian-made bottle of Coca-Cola rolled off the bottling lines in 1938 in a small building on the corner of Crescent and Dowling Streets in Waterloo, Sydney.
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Coca-Cola Australia’s Christine Black said the 80-year anniversary was a good opportunity to break the myth that the drinks are shipped all the way from the US.
“Coca-Cola has long been a part of the fabric of Australian culture and community – from the yo-yo craze of the 60s and 70s, the surfabout competitions of the 80s, sponsorship of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, our backing of the NRL and AFL and more recently, our proud support for marriage equality with limited-edition ‘Love’ cans,” said Black.
As Australians’ taste has changed over the years, the company has evolved with them.
This evolution can be seen in the expansion of Coca-Cola’s range over the years, from the launch of Fanta in 1955, Diet Coke in 1983 and Coke No Sugar in 2017.
Australians have also often been the first in the world to taste the newest flavours including Coke Ginger, Coke Coffee No Sugar and Coke Orange No Sugar.
Many of the brands produced locally by Coca-Cola have remained popular with Australians for decades including Sprite, Fanta, and Lift.
Others such as Mello Yello, launched in 1979 and TaB, launched in 1963, are part of the company’s proud history of creating drinks to match the times.
Today Coca-Cola Australia has 165 drinks and 25 brands including Coca-Cola, Mount Franklin, Pump, Keri juice and Fuze Tea.
Coca-Cola Australia and Coca-Cola Amatil employ close to 4,000 employees directly and a further 10,000 in the production and supply chain.
For every direct Australian job created, up to four jobs are indirectly generated across the Australian economy contributing approximately $3.5 billion to the local economy every year.
In partnership with Amatil, Coca-Cola’s products are sold through more than 100,000 retailers generating income and jobs around the country.