Caro is a brand of
roasted grain drink, a
caffeine
Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine chemical classification, class and is the most commonly consumed Psychoactive drug, psychoactive substance globally. It is mainly used for its eugeroic (wakefulness pr ...
-free
coffee substitute made of roasted
barley
Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
,
malt
Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as "malting".
Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar, ...
ed barley,
chicory, and
rye
Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...
. It is manufactured by
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...
and was first introduced in
West Germany
West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
in 1954. It is available throughout
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
as well as other markets including
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. It is imported to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
under the name Pero and sold in Spain as Eko.
Caro is available as an instant powder or as Caro Extra in granulated form. The name "Caro" references the German word "Karo", the term for the diamonds
playing card suit, as seen in stylized form in the product logos used in Germany and the United States, and in the Spanish product until the early 2000 when the branding was restyled.
History
The company's history goes back to the time of
Frederick II, who imposed high taxes on coffee beans. The company's founder, Johann Heinrich Franck, found a coffee alternative in chicory, which was mixed with grain and roasted. In 1828 production started in Vaihingen an der Enz and in 1868 it was relocated to Ludwigsburg because of the better transport connections.
The brewable Linde's grain coffee, which is still colloquially called Muckefuck in parts of Germany, comes from the same house. With this, however, the war and post-war period was associated. A new brand name was therefore sought for the soluble substitute coffee in 1954 and formed from components of the word coffee substitute extract (with a C instead of the introductory K): Caro.
In 2012, 114 employees were employed in the Ludwigsburg plant, producing around 8,000 tons of Caro coffee, Kathreiner malt coffee and Linde's grain coffee.
For the brand, long-standing signature music in advertising was a textually rewritten version of the song I like by
Volker Lechtenbrink, who also interpreted the advertising song.
In June 2018, Nestlé announced that it would close the Ludwigsburg plant at the end of 2018 and relocate production to Portugal.
See also
*
Barleycup
*
Inka (beverage)
*
List of barley-based drinks
*
Postum
Postum () is a powdered roasted grain beverage popular as a coffee substitute. The caffeine-free beverage was created by Post Consumer Brands, Post Cereal Company founder C. W. Post in 1895 and marketed as a healthier alternative to coffee. Post w ...
References
External links
*Michael Müller
''Es duftet – Caro lüftet den Kaffeedeckel'' Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung, 2012-9-27 (German)
{{coffee, nocat=1
Barley-based drinks
Drink brands
Coffee substitutes
Nestlé brands