Санка: История бренда кофе без кофеина

Brand of instant decaffeinated coffee

Sanka is a brand of instant decaffeinated coffee, sold around the world, and was one of the earliest decaffeinated varieties. Sanka is distributed in the United States by Kraft Heinz.

Decaffeinated coffee was developed in 1903 by a team of researchers led by Ludwig Roselius in Bremen, Germany. It was first sold in Germany and many other European countries in 1905–1906 under the name Kaffee HAG (short for Kaffee Handels Aktien Gesellschaft, or Coffee Trading Public Company). In France, the brand name became Sanka, derived from the French words sans caféine ("without caffeine"). The brand came to the United States in 1909–1910, where it was first marketed under the name "Dekafa" or "Dekofa" by an American sales agent. The Andy Griffith Show Sanka sponsor spots featured the cast members. It was also a sponsor of The Goldbergs (1920s to about 1960 on radio and television, unrelated to the U. S. 2013 ABC television series) where, on many episodes, Mrs. Goldberg (Gertrude Berg) would address the camera and talk to the TV audience and tell them about Sanka coffee. After the sales pitch, she would walk away, usually from the window, and start the show. With such promotion, Sanka became a nationwide sales success, with General Foods Corporation taking over distribution in 1928 as a defensive measure, since Sanka directly competed with its noncaffeine coffee substitute Postum. The bright orange label that made Sanka easily identifiable to consumers found its way into coffee shops around the country in the form of the decaf coffee pot. Coffee pots with a bright orange handle are a direct result of the American public's association of the color orange with Sanka, no matter which brand of coffee is actually served. Businesses that serve rival Folgers decaffeinated coffee usually have green handled pots. From 1976 to 1982, veteran actor Robert Young was Sanka's television spokesman, appearing in a whole series of commercials. During the mid 1980s, a series of Sanka television commercials aired featuring Lena Horne.