Max Keith (1903 –1974 , pronounced "kait") was a German businessman who was the head of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

GmbH, the major bottler of Coca-Cola in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. Keith began working at the German subsidiary of

in 1933, at the age of 30. Between then and 1939, the sales of Coca-Cola in Germany (led by American Ray Rivington Powers) rose from 100,000 cases in 1933 to over 4 million cases just before the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Following Powers' death in 1938, Keith took over the subsidiary. After the outbreak of the war, Keith worked with the German bureaucracy, and was appointed to the "Office of Enemy Property", hence avoiding nationalization of the subsidiary. Coca-Cola GmbH was unable to obtain

syrup In cooking, syrup (less commonly sirup; from ; , beverage, wine and ) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a Solution (chemistry), solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, because of the Allied blockade. The supply of regular Coca-Cola ran out in 1942, having been reserved primarily to wounded soldiers in hospitals. To keep the plant in operation, Keith developed a fruit flavored drink made from apple fiber, left over from cider pressings, and

whey Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of hard c ...

, a byproduct from cheese manufacture, creating

Fanta Fanta () is an American-owned brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks created by Coca-Cola Deutschland under the leadership of German businessman Max Keith. There are over 200 flavors worldwide. Fanta originated in Germany as a Co ...

. The drink 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, and the general was killed in an air raid before any action was taken against Keith. A street in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

, the site of Coca Cola Germany's former headquarters, is named after him.

References

Coca-Cola people 20th-century German businesspeople 1903 births 1987 deaths 20th-century German inventors {{germany-business-bio-stub Ohio