Coca-Cola vs. Cacaolat? Coca-Wat?

Cacaolat – what’s in a name?

Cacaolat was the first industrially produced batido (milkshake made from cocoa and milk) in 1933. The Catalan Grupo Cacaolat is owned by the Damm brewery and Cobego, a Coca-Cola bottler (to complicate the story even more). The brand targets the Catalan market, but is widely available in the rest of Spain as well.

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Now, does this have anything to do with The Coca-Cola Company? No. While the name is similar, the origins are completely justified. The name Coca-Cola comes from two of the formula’s main ingredients: Coca leaves and Cola nuts. While CacaoLat comes from cocoa and milk.

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Similar Logo – What’s in a Logo?

Cacaolat was launched in the 1930s by founder and industrialist Joan Viader Roger. A calligraphic logo was designed for it at the time, inspired by the logo trend of the time.

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Coca-Cola was not bottled in Spain then, but was already available. So the question rises whether Roger was inspired by the Coca-Cola logo? An important point here is that typographic options were not as varied then as they are now, and calligraphic logo design was an undeniable trend.

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For example, many well-known brands from the early 20th century have very similar fonts. In the overview, we see brands like Leica, Ford, Pepsi, Lancia, Chevrolet, General Electric, AEG, Triumph or Iberia.

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