#4 – Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of nonalcoholic beverages that was founded in 1886 in Columbus, Georgia, by Asa Griggs Candler and John Pemberton (it was Pemberton who discovered the secret recipe).
The company has operated a franchised distribution system since 1889 where The Coca-Cola Company only produces syrup concentrate which is then sold to various bottlers throughout the world who hold an exclusive territory.
Other interesting facts about coca-Cola? Its inventor, John Pemberton became addicted to morphine after being wounded in the Civil War and the original Coca-Cola recipe was born out of a quest to find a substitute for the dangerous opiate. And it wasn’t until 1903 that cocaine was removed from the drink!