Inca Kola is the top selling soft drink in Peru. It’s really, really, really sweet. I brought a couple bottles home for my daughter, who loves the taste, a cross between bubblegum and cream soda. It’s actually flavored with lemon verbena.
In 1911 José Lindley started a bottling company. Inca Kola was introduced in 1935, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Peru’s founding. Since then its taken off, outselling Coca Cola. Even McDonald’s serves it in Perú.
Struggling financially in the late 1990’s, Lindley accepted an offer of $200M from Coca Cola for 50% of their shares, hence controlling ownership. Henceforth, Coca Cola owned 100% of the rights to Inca Cola outside of Peru, and bottled it s a joint venture in Peru. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Peruvians were not happy at the economic colonialism. Lindley called it a strategic alliance with the competition. Coke won’t market Inca globally, and risk destroying its brand.
However, in 2005 Lindley complained that Embotelladora Latinoamericana SA had increased syrup prices 6x since Coke bought Inca out. So Lindley bought Embotelladora out for… $200M. Today Lindley Co. Bottled both Inca Kola and Coca Cola in Perú, with a 60% market share.
Ah, the challenges of globalization.
