 | |
| Type | Malted dairy drink |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Idilia Foods |
| Country of origin | Spain |
| Introduced | 1946 |
| Variants | Cola Cao Original, Cola Cao Turbo, Cola Cao 0%, Cola Cao Noir, Cola Cao Puro, Avenacao, Cola Cao Shake, Cola Cao Shake 0%, Cola Cao Complet, Cola Cao Energy |
| Website | www |
Cola Cao is a sugarychocolate drink with vitamins and minerals that originated inSpain and is now produced and marketed in several countries.[1][2] The brand is owned by theBarcelona-based companyIdilia Foods (formerly Nutrexpa).[3][4]
In 1945, José María Ventura and José Ignacio Ferrero, two brothers-in-law from theGràcia neighborhood of Barcelona, Spain, created a soluble cocoa called Cola Cao.[5] The "Cola Cao song" used to promote the product in 1952 is a nostalgia item.[1][4]
In 1962, they began to broadcast their first advertisements on television, which adapted the radio tune to some cartoons. In 1972, Cola Cao was associated for the first time with the slogan "Olympic food", after becoming a sponsor of the Spanish Olympic team at the1972 Summer Olympic Games. In the 1980s, "Cola Cao VIT" was produced, an instant and enriched version with vitamins of the classic Cola Cao. It went out of production in the late 1980s.
In 1988, in a connection with the1992 Summer Olympics scheduled forBarcelona Cola Cao began sponsoring theSpanish Olympic Committee through the ADO Program, an alliance that continues until today. Along the same lines and to promote urban sports, the brand installed what are popularly known as "Cola Cao Circuits" in green areas of a large number of Spanish cities, such asEsplugues de Llobregat andCórdoba, among others. In the mid-nineties, with the slogan the same flavor of Cola Cao with half the calories, a version of Cola Cao without sugar and with sweeteners called "Cola Cao Low in Calories" was launched, which in the mid-2000s was renamed "Cola Cao Light".
Cola Cao is prepared using sugar, processedcocoa, wheat flour andcola nut, and is enriched with vitamins, calcium and phosphorus.[2][6]
Cola Cao comes in a powder form which is intended to be mixed withmilk,[1] but can also be mixed withwater orsoya milk. It can also be added to breakfast cereal or used as a baking ingredient. In Spain in particular, Cola Cao is a popular accompaniment to breakfast,[1] or dinner.
In Spain, since the late 80's, Cola Cao has been marketed in association with theOlympic Games and other sporting events.[7][8][9]
Cola Cao in powder form is sold in containers of various sizes, and it is also produced in liquid form that is purveyed in plastic bottles.[1]
Cola Cao is exported to various countries[8] such asSpain,Portugal,Chile,Bosnia and Herzegovina, andChina (where is known as 高乐高 Gao-le-Gao).[10] It was introduced toJapan (under the nameコラカオ),Russia (under the name Кола Као) andGreece in early 1990s only to be discontinued a few years later. However, since 2007, "Cola Cao Chocolate Roll Cakes"[11] manufactured in China are sold at dollar stores.
Cola Cao factories have production lines unique to each region:[10]
The companiesNesquik and Cola Cao have been closely compared to each other online. However on March 31, 2016 aparody Cola Cao Twitter page sparked an argument with a parody SpanishTwitter page. Cola Cao said about how they "have a song" but questioned what Nesquik has instead, "a talking rabbit". The Nesquik account later swore and commented on the signaturebits.[15] This resulted in the official pages of the two brands along with companies likeNestlé clarifying the correct and verified company pages.[16]
TheOCU [es], a member organization ofEuroconsumers, compared the two brands to help to close the arguments online directed at which brand is better.[17] They compared the cocoa contents and added fibers of the two brands and the OCU concluded that, although other companies provided higher quality chocolate sources, Cola Cao placed 4th: higher than Nesquik.[18] People on Twitter andFacebook argue about which is better and try to bring everyday evidence to suggest that one company has a new product which makes it better than the other; and this has quickly spread onto the local news. For example, on July 6, 2020McDonald's released the Cola CaoMcFlurry[19] which people have used as arguments against Nesquik,[20] questioning if the company has this or not.[21]
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