Inca Kola
Encyclopedia
Inca Kola is a soft drink
created in Peru
in 1935 by British immigrant José Robinson Lindleyhttp://www.urosario.edu.co/urosario_files/12/12e72337-b358-45ac-9228-bb9ba34ffa2c.pdf
using lemon verbena
(verbena de Indias or cedrón in Spanish) although many believe that lemon grass, a herb native to India, (hierba luísa in Spanish) is used. The soda has an unusual sweet fruity flavor sometimes compared to liquid bubblegum
. It has been described as "an acquired taste" whose "intense colour alone is enough to drive away the uninitiated."
The Coca-Cola Company
owns the Inca Kola trademark everywhere but in Peru.http://www.virtualvender.coca-cola.com/ft/index.jsp?brand_id=250 Product Descriptions: Inca Kola In Peru, the Inca Kola trademark is owned by Corporación Inca Kola Perú S.A., which since 1999 is a joint venture between the Coca-Cola Company and the Lindley family, former sole owners of Corporación Inca Kola Perú S.A. and Corporación José R. Lindley S.A.
. Inca Kola is a source of national pride and patriotism in Peru, a national icon. Inca Kola is available in parts of South America, North America and Europe, and while it has not enjoyed major success outside of Peru, it can be found in Latin American specialty shops worldwide. Inca Kola is yellowish-gold in color, and is sold in glass and plastic bottles of various sizes and cans of the same color with an Inca motif.
The name "Inca Kola" refers to the Quechua
words for king and queen.
, one of Lima
's oldest and most traditional neighborhoods, an immigrant English family began a small bottling company under their family name, Lindley. In 1928, the company was formally chartered in Peru as José R. Lindley e Hijos S.A., whereupon Joseph R. Lindley became its first General Manager. http://sisviso.plades.org.pe/sisviso/empresas.jsp?idempresaf=F0003 http://www.creditosperu.com.pe/pp-corporacion-jose-r-lindley-s-a.php Corporación José R. Lindley S.A.
By the early 1930s, the company had a line of ten flavors of soda including Orange Squash, Lemon Squash, Champagne Cola, and Cola Rosada. In 1935, on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Lima's founding, Lindley introduced what was to become its most noted product, Inca Kola, whose flavor was based on Lemon Verbena
(Verbena de Indias or Cedrón in Spanish). He had experimented with various mixtures, other ingredients and levels of carbonation until finally, he came up with this combination of thirteen special plant derived flavors. The company launched "Inca Kola" under the slogan "There is only one Inca Kola and it's like no other" (Inca Kola sólo hay una y no se parece a ninguna).
By the mid 1940s, Inca Kola was a market leader in Lima due to an aggressive advertising campaign appealing to the prevalence of Peruvian nationalism among the population. Bottling volume expanded greatly, growing steadily and positioning it as a traditional Peruvian drink, using national and indigenous
iconography and images. This advertising campaign appealing to nationalism was so successful that some Peruvians believe it is their "national duty" to drink only Inca Kola and some Peruvians even believe that it a "sacrilege" to drink any other soda.
Inca Kola reached levels of 38% market penetration by 1970, eclipsing all other carbonated drinks in Peru and firmly establishing itself as "Peru's Drink" (La Bebida del Perú). A common logo in the late 1970s and early 1980s featured the slogan "Made of National Flavor!" (¡De Sabor Nacional!), later changed to "The flavor of Peru" (El Sabor del Perú).
On January 22, 2009, Inca Kola partnered with D'Onofrio, an iconic Peruvian ice cream brand owned by Nestlé
, to launch an Inca Kola flavored ice pop.
Inca Kola is sold by the Coca-Cola company in supermarkets in the United States and Canada in 2-liter bottles, cans, and individual bottles. It is available in Canada at many Wal-mart
Supercenters.
, a Peruviian fast-food chain, switched from serving Coca-Cola to Inca Kola in 1995. Due to popular demand, McDonald's
also began to serve Inca Kola at its locales in Peru in 1995, before Coca-Cola owned the Inca Kola brand (at the time, the only place in the world where Coca-Cola agreed to such an arrangement).http://marketing.blogs.ie.edu/archives/2008/09/inca_kola_the_s.php
Lindley underwent corporate restructuring in 1997. The expansion resulted in a debt load that took a heavy toll, and Lindley lost almost $5 million in 1999. The company, looking for outside help, turned to the Coca-Cola Co., which acquired half of Inca Kola Perú and one-fifth of Corporación José R. Lindley S.A. for an undisclosed sum believed to have been about $200 million. Johnny Lindley Taboada, a grandson of the founder and chairman of Corporación José R. Lindley S.A., became chairman of the joint venture between Coke and Inca Kola. Coca-Cola became the sole owner of the Inca Kola trademark everywhere outside of Peru whereas inside Peru a joint-venture agreement was forged.http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/food-beverage-stores/158163-1.html To date, Ecuador and the United States (mostly New York and the rest of the Northeast) are two of the countries where Inca Kola is bottled by the Coca-Cola Company.
During the time that the two giants were negotiating, various smaller companies began to emerge in Peru, selling drinks that competed both with Coca-Cola (Peru Cola
, Cola Nacional, Inti Cola, Kola Real
, etc.) and Inca Kola (Isaac Kola
, Triple Kola
, Concordia
, Oro
etc.). Their main point of attack was the fact that Inca Kola was no longer a Peruvian company, having sold out to a foreign company, and therefore not deserving of their money.
During 2004, Corporación José R. Lindley S.A. started talks to buy out Embotelladora Latinoamericana S.A., a bottling business that had been bottling Inca Kola since 1973. They complained that the price of Inca Kola concentrate had increased sixfold since the merger with Coca-Cola. Consequently, they cancelled their contract to bottle Inca Kola in 2000. As a result, in early 2005 Corporación José R. Lindley S.A. purchased two-thirds of Embotelladora Latinoamericana for $215 million. Corporación José R. Lindley S.A. now bottles Inca Kola as well as all the Coca-Cola products using these bottling facilities, with a combined market share of around 60%.
Soft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
created in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
in 1935 by British immigrant José Robinson Lindleyhttp://www.urosario.edu.co/urosario_files/12/12e72337-b358-45ac-9228-bb9ba34ffa2c.pdf
using lemon verbena
Lemon verbena
Aloysia citrodora is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family, Verbenaceae, that is native to Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. Common names include Lemon Verbena and Lemon Beebrush. It was brought to Europe by the Spanish in the 17th...
(verbena de Indias or cedrón in Spanish) although many believe that lemon grass, a herb native to India, (hierba luísa in Spanish) is used. The soda has an unusual sweet fruity flavor sometimes compared to liquid bubblegum
Bubblegum
Bubblegum is a type of elastic chewing gum, designed to be blown out of the mouth as a bubble.-History:In 1928, Walter Diemer, an accountant for the Fleer Chewing Gum Company in Philadelphia, was experimenting with new gum recipes. One recipe was found to be less sticky than regular chewing gum,...
. It has been described as "an acquired taste" whose "intense colour alone is enough to drive away the uninitiated."
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Columbus, Georgia...
owns the Inca Kola trademark everywhere but in Peru.http://www.virtualvender.coca-cola.com/ft/index.jsp?brand_id=250 Product Descriptions: Inca Kola In Peru, the Inca Kola trademark is owned by Corporación Inca Kola Perú S.A., which since 1999 is a joint venture between the Coca-Cola Company and the Lindley family, former sole owners of Corporación Inca Kola Perú S.A. and Corporación José R. Lindley S.A.
Corporación José R. Lindley S.A.
Corporación José R. Lindley S.A. is a 100-year-old Peruvian company, listed on the Lima Stock Exchange as CORLINI1, involved in the manufacturing, distribution and marketing of nonalcoholic beverages and the official bottler and distributor of all Coca-Cola products in Peru...
. Inca Kola is a source of national pride and patriotism in Peru, a national icon. Inca Kola is available in parts of South America, North America and Europe, and while it has not enjoyed major success outside of Peru, it can be found in Latin American specialty shops worldwide. Inca Kola is yellowish-gold in color, and is sold in glass and plastic bottles of various sizes and cans of the same color with an Inca motif.
The name "Inca Kola" refers to the Quechua
Quechua languages
Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
words for king and queen.
History
In 1911, in RímacRímac District
Rímac is a district in the Lima Province, Peru. It lies directly to the north of downtown Lima, to which it is connected by six bridges over the Rímac River. The district also borders the Independencia, San Martín de Porres, and San Juan de Lurigancho districts...
, one of Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
's oldest and most traditional neighborhoods, an immigrant English family began a small bottling company under their family name, Lindley. In 1928, the company was formally chartered in Peru as José R. Lindley e Hijos S.A., whereupon Joseph R. Lindley became its first General Manager. http://sisviso.plades.org.pe/sisviso/empresas.jsp?idempresaf=F0003 http://www.creditosperu.com.pe/pp-corporacion-jose-r-lindley-s-a.php Corporación José R. Lindley S.A.
By the early 1930s, the company had a line of ten flavors of soda including Orange Squash, Lemon Squash, Champagne Cola, and Cola Rosada. In 1935, on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Lima's founding, Lindley introduced what was to become its most noted product, Inca Kola, whose flavor was based on Lemon Verbena
Lemon verbena
Aloysia citrodora is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family, Verbenaceae, that is native to Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. Common names include Lemon Verbena and Lemon Beebrush. It was brought to Europe by the Spanish in the 17th...
(Verbena de Indias or Cedrón in Spanish). He had experimented with various mixtures, other ingredients and levels of carbonation until finally, he came up with this combination of thirteen special plant derived flavors. The company launched "Inca Kola" under the slogan "There is only one Inca Kola and it's like no other" (Inca Kola sólo hay una y no se parece a ninguna).
By the mid 1940s, Inca Kola was a market leader in Lima due to an aggressive advertising campaign appealing to the prevalence of Peruvian nationalism among the population. Bottling volume expanded greatly, growing steadily and positioning it as a traditional Peruvian drink, using national and indigenous
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
iconography and images. This advertising campaign appealing to nationalism was so successful that some Peruvians believe it is their "national duty" to drink only Inca Kola and some Peruvians even believe that it a "sacrilege" to drink any other soda.
On January 22, 2009, Inca Kola partnered with D'Onofrio, an iconic Peruvian ice cream brand owned by Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
, to launch an Inca Kola flavored ice pop.
Inca Kola is sold by the Coca-Cola company in supermarkets in the United States and Canada in 2-liter bottles, cans, and individual bottles. It is available in Canada at many Wal-mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
Supercenters.
Competition
In 1995, Coca-Cola had 32% of the market share of soda sales in Peru while Inca Kola had 32.9%. Since that year, however, the market share for Inca Kola has increased due to some fast food chains including it in their menus. BembosBembos
Bembos is a Peruvian fast food chain offering hamburgers, often with Peruvian-influenced variations.Bembos was established in 1988, with its first restaurant opening in the Miraflores district of Lima....
, a Peruviian fast-food chain, switched from serving Coca-Cola to Inca Kola in 1995. Due to popular demand, McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
also began to serve Inca Kola at its locales in Peru in 1995, before Coca-Cola owned the Inca Kola brand (at the time, the only place in the world where Coca-Cola agreed to such an arrangement).http://marketing.blogs.ie.edu/archives/2008/09/inca_kola_the_s.php
Lindley underwent corporate restructuring in 1997. The expansion resulted in a debt load that took a heavy toll, and Lindley lost almost $5 million in 1999. The company, looking for outside help, turned to the Coca-Cola Co., which acquired half of Inca Kola Perú and one-fifth of Corporación José R. Lindley S.A. for an undisclosed sum believed to have been about $200 million. Johnny Lindley Taboada, a grandson of the founder and chairman of Corporación José R. Lindley S.A., became chairman of the joint venture between Coke and Inca Kola. Coca-Cola became the sole owner of the Inca Kola trademark everywhere outside of Peru whereas inside Peru a joint-venture agreement was forged.http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/food-beverage-stores/158163-1.html To date, Ecuador and the United States (mostly New York and the rest of the Northeast) are two of the countries where Inca Kola is bottled by the Coca-Cola Company.
Perú Cola
Perú Cola is a Peruvian range of soft drinks. Perú Cola is a brand of the Embotelladora Don Jorge S.A.C. company, a former bottler of Coca-Cola and later Inca Kola products. Perú Cola was introduced in Peru in 2002 after the take-over of Inca Kola by the Coca-Cola Company...
, Cola Nacional, Inti Cola, Kola Real
Kola Real
Kola Real is a Peruvian soft drink. Kola Real is one of the most popular brands of Ajegroup, a leader in the Latin American beverage market. Started in Peru on June 23, 1988 in the middle of a coup d'état, the company has grown and expanded not only in Peru, but also in Cuba, Ecuador, Dominican...
, etc.) and Inca Kola (Isaac Kola
Isaac Kola
Isaac Kola is a Peruvian soft drink. Isaac Kola is a very popular brand of the Embotelladora Don Jorge S.A.C. company, a former bottler of Coca-Cola and later Inca Kola products. Isaac Kola was introduced in Peru in 2002 as a rival product to Inca Kola after the take-over of Inca Kola by the...
, Triple Kola
Triple Kola
Triple Kola is a brand of soft drink from the PepsiCo company, sold in Peru. It is one of many brands of PepsiCo beverages sold in Peru and a rival product to Inca Kola sharing the same characteristics such as the yellow color.-See also:...
, Concordia
Concordia (beverage)
Concordia is a Peruvian range of soft drinks, first sold and produced in the "Norte Chico" region of Peru . Concordia can be found in flavors like Strawberry, Pineapple and Orange. Discontinued flavors include Apple and Non-alcoholic Champagne...
, Oro
Oro (beverage)
Oro is a Peruvian brand of soft drink owned by the Ajegroup and sold in Perú, Ecuador and Venezuela. Oro is a rival product to Inca Kola sharing the same characteristics such as the yellow color...
etc.). Their main point of attack was the fact that Inca Kola was no longer a Peruvian company, having sold out to a foreign company, and therefore not deserving of their money.
During 2004, Corporación José R. Lindley S.A. started talks to buy out Embotelladora Latinoamericana S.A., a bottling business that had been bottling Inca Kola since 1973. They complained that the price of Inca Kola concentrate had increased sixfold since the merger with Coca-Cola. Consequently, they cancelled their contract to bottle Inca Kola in 2000. As a result, in early 2005 Corporación José R. Lindley S.A. purchased two-thirds of Embotelladora Latinoamericana for $215 million. Corporación José R. Lindley S.A. now bottles Inca Kola as well as all the Coca-Cola products using these bottling facilities, with a combined market share of around 60%.
Slogans
- 1935: Inca Kola OK. http://www.arkivperu.com/incakola.htm
- 1936-1950: Solo hay una y no se parece a ninguna (There is only one, unlike any other).
- 1960-1980: La bebida del sabor nacional (The drink of national flavor).
- 1980-1985: El sabor de la alegría (The taste of happiness).
- 1985-1989: La bebida del sabor nacional (The drink of national flavor).
- 1990-1995: Es nuestra, La bebida del Perú (It's ours! The drink of Peru).
- 1996-1999: Pide bien; que con todo combina (Ask for it, combines with everything)
- 2000-2001: El sabor de lo nuestro (The Taste of ours).
- 2001-2003: Hay una sola y el Perú sabe por qué (There is only one, and Peru knows why).
- 2003-2005: El sabor del Perú (Taste of Peru).
- 2005: Destapa el sabor del Perú (Uncover the flavor of Peru).
- 2005-2006: Celebra el Perú (Celebrate Peru).
- 2006: Qué buena idea (What a good idea).
- 2007: El sabor de la creatividad (The taste of creativity).
- 2008-2009: Con creatividad todo es posible (With creativity anything is possible). http://blogs.elcomercio.pe/publicidadymkt/2009/02/creatividad-ante-todo.html
- 2010: Inca Kola 75 años (Inca Kola is 75 years old).
See also
- Corporación José R. Lindley S.A.Corporación José R. Lindley S.A.Corporación José R. Lindley S.A. is a 100-year-old Peruvian company, listed on the Lima Stock Exchange as CORLINI1, involved in the manufacturing, distribution and marketing of nonalcoholic beverages and the official bottler and distributor of all Coca-Cola products in Peru...
- creator of Inca Kola. - Isaac KolaIsaac KolaIsaac Kola is a Peruvian soft drink. Isaac Kola is a very popular brand of the Embotelladora Don Jorge S.A.C. company, a former bottler of Coca-Cola and later Inca Kola products. Isaac Kola was introduced in Peru in 2002 as a rival product to Inca Kola after the take-over of Inca Kola by the...
- direct competitive brand. - OroOro (beverage)Oro is a Peruvian brand of soft drink owned by the Ajegroup and sold in Perú, Ecuador and Venezuela. Oro is a rival product to Inca Kola sharing the same characteristics such as the yellow color...
- direct competitive brand. - Triple KolaTriple KolaTriple Kola is a brand of soft drink from the PepsiCo company, sold in Peru. It is one of many brands of PepsiCo beverages sold in Peru and a rival product to Inca Kola sharing the same characteristics such as the yellow color.-See also:...
- direct competitive brand. - VivaViva (beverage)Viva is a Peruvian brand of soft drink owned by Backus and Johnston and sold in Perú. Viva is a rival product to Inca Kola sharing the same characteristics such as the yellow color...
- direct competitive brand.