DENMARK’S COLA FOR GENERATIONS

The story about Jolly Cola, dating back to 1959, is the story about creating Denmark’s very own cola as a countermove to American Coca Cola. Several Danish breweries joined forces and founded the company, Dansk Coladrik A/S (Danish Cola Drink), for the purpose of producing a Danish cola type.

This resulted in the Jolly Cola. Dansk Coladrik A/S established its own business model, just as Coca Cola. The soft drink was produced and bottled by local breweries, whereas a central management controlled the cola’s taste and planned a national advertisement campaign.

The Jolly Cola became an instant success; and, in less than no time, it captured 40% of the Danish market for cola. The breweries behind Jolly Cola knew the market and had a well-established distribution system. For the initial great years of the cola drink, many Danes therefore considered a bottle of cola to be the equivalent of a bottle of Jolly Cola.

For quite some years, the Jolly Cola retained its leading position in the Danish market – however, from time to time, the company behind had to face the fact that even a good thing may come to an end – that fighting one of the world’s biggest brands, Coca Cola, is uphill.

Towards the end of the 1990s, the Albani breweries tried to breathe new life into the Jolly Cola – as a principal sponsor of the Danish female handball team. Alas, in vain. Today, the Jolly Cola is produced and marketed by A/S Bryggeriet Vestfyen and, once again, the brand has gained a dominant share of the Danish market.