UNTOLD AFRICAN STORY BEHIND COKE AND PEPSI

 By Osaiyekmwen Confidence Osarumwense
 
Africa story are always left untold.... I want to tell the story of Africa and I want the world to know the role Africans played in developing the largest beverage brand in the world....
Coca Cola is the most recognizable beverage brand in the world. Pepsi Co (a short form of Pepsi Cola) is the second most recognizable beverage brand in the world. Both Coke and Pepsi brands have their origins in soft drink recipes based on Kola nuts. The name  “Cola” in Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola was derived from Kola nut I believe you never knew this . Although Western public memory usually stops at crediting pharmacist John Pemberton for inventing Coke in 1886 and crediting pharmacist Caleb Bradham for inventing Pepsi, the inspiration for Coke and Pepsi lies in the domestication of the Kola nut by ancient West Africans and the domestication of Coca in northern Peru around 5,000 BC (~7,000 years ago). Kola nut was and still is a fruit with sacred and social significance to West Africans. A fair re-telling of the story of Coke and Pepsi should not leave out the role of Africa in developing the Cola element. There will be no Coke nor Pepsi without the West Africa Kola nut
West Africa countries are the largest producers of Kola nut countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and cote d'ivoire are lead producers of Kola nut in the world
The love of Coke around the world demonstrates that Africa has more to offer the world, which they can enjoy if they are willing to get over the need for pointing to a “white or Asian inventor” or an originator with a name they can pronounce. Concomitantly, it offers inspiration to Africans that the tools of tomorrow may be an invention that lies in their hands, that is currently underappreciated. Today, Africa has developed up to 2,000 highly nutritious foods, a number that represents a non-exhaustive and significant contribution to the diversity of humanity’s food supply. Many of these foods developed by Africa are overlooked by the world because African inventions are seen as inferior, even by many Africans.
When a marketing consultancy Superbrands compiled a Consumer brands league table from 2014 to 2018, it was no surprise that Coca-Cola stayed in the top 5 for all five of those years. The Coca Cola Company, which manufactures soft drinks, employs 61,800 people and generates annual sales of 35 billion US dollars a year. The Coca Cola Bottling Company (Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated), which owns the supply chain for Coco-Cola products distribution, employs 15,500 people and makes sales of 4 billion US dollars a year.
I want Africa to raise up and tell our stories... No one we tell our story like we will do....
It's time to tell our story and changing the narrative 

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