Coke formula stays under wraps

December 09, 2011|Associated Press

ATLANTA - Coca-Cola Co. has made its secret formula the centerpiece of a new exhibit at its corporate museum, ditching the confines of the bank vault where the list of ingredients had been stored since 1925.

The world’s largest beverage maker said yesterday a new vault containing the formula will be on display for visitors to its World of Coca-Cola museum in downtown Atlanta. However, the formula itself, which dates to 1886, will remain hidden from view.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola said the decision to move the formula from a vault at SunTrust Banks Inc. had nothing to do with the bank’s decision in 2007 to begin selling its long-held stake in Coca-Cola.

“The time has come for our secret formula to come back home,’’ chief executive Muhtar Kent told employees and city and state officials who were on hand for the unveiling of the exhibit, which comes as the company celebrates its 125th anniversary this year.

Attendees watched a video of Kent placing a metal box, which the company says contains the formula, inside a five-foot high safe several days ago and locking it. Visitors were then escorted through a room full of pictures and historical information about the founding of the company and the secret formula. That display leads into a cylindrical room, where images of glasses filling with Coca-Cola splash across the walls before lights come on and reveal a giant, metal-encased vault with a keypad and a hand-imprint scanner.

A railing keeps visitors several feet away from the vault door. The vault never opens, and Coke officials wouldn’t say if the keypad and hand scanner were there for show or were part of the security measures.