Sanka

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Sanka is a brand of decaffeinated coffee, sold around the world, and was one of the earliest decaffeinated varieties.^{[citation needed]} Sanka is distributed in the United States by Kraft Foods.

Decaffeinated coffee was invented in 1903 by a team of researchers led by Ludwig Roselius in Bremen, Germany.^{[citation needed]} It was first sold in Germany and many other European countries in 1905–06 under the name "Kaffee HAG".^{[citation needed]} In France and other countries, the brand name became "Sanka", derived from the French words sans caféine ("without caffeine").^{[citation needed]} The brand came to the United States in 1909–10, where it was first marketed under the name "Dekafa" or "Dekofa" by an American sales agent.^{[citation needed]}

In 1914, Roselius founded his own company called Kaffee Hag Corporation in New York.^{[citation needed]} When Kaffee Hag was confiscated by the Alien Property Custodian during World War I and sold to an American firm, Roselius lost not only his company, but also the American trademark rights to the name.^{[citation needed]} To re-establish his product, he began to use the Sanka brand name in America.

Sanka was first marketed in the United States in 1923.^{[citation needed]} At the beginning, it was sold only in two "Sanka Coffee Houses" in New York, but soon it also came into retail.^{[citation needed]} With its bright orange label, the package was easily identifiable, and due to intensive advertising campaigns (and the General Foods Corporation taking over distribution in 1928), Sanka became a nationwide sales success by the late 1920s.

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. (However, businesses that serve rival Folgers decaffeinated coffee usually have green-handled pots.)

[edit] Sanka albums

In France Café Sanka issued heraldic picture albums, in the same style as the Coffee Hag albums. Only 6 albums of the planned 42 were ever published ^[1]

[edit] Popular Culture (USA)

Sanka was a sponsor of I Love Lucy during its initial run on CBS television in the 1950s.^[2]
During the 1970s, a series of television commercials featuring actor Robert Young (of Marcus Welby, M.D. fame), encouraged coffee drinkers to switch to Sanka, to bring down their blood pressure and decrease nervousness and irritability.^{[citation needed]}
In the movie Cool Runnings, there was a character named Sanka Coffie, whose name sounds like the brand of coffee.
In an episode of Family Guy, the Fanta Girls are parodied as the Sanka Girls featuring elderly women singing "Don't you wanta wanta Sanka".
In the film Down With Love, all the members of the Banner House board expect Vicky to make them a coffee, except for R.J. who asks for a Sanka — much to Vicky's annoyance.
In the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Mr. Vargas announces to the class that he just switched to Sanka.
In the popular autobiography Running With Scissors, Augusten's mother Deirdre is frequently depicted drinking or making Sanka.