I Became a Food Developer in Another World

Chapter 48: Cola Ads (4)

The creator of Pure Coke was an alchemist in the Gold Tower.

Just as most alchemists aren’t interested in junk food, neither was he.

He was inclined to agree with the saying, “An alchemist who creates processed food has sold his pride for money.”

But it was money that inspired him to create Pure Coke.

As a poor alchemist who had always struggled to make ends meet, he entered the processed food market to make ends meet.

He set his sights on Coke because it seemed like the easiest way to make money.

Of course, if that were all there was to it, Pure Coke would have ended up as just one of many, many Coke offshoots.

“Well done, Kayton. This is going to make Pure Coke soar.”

“Thank you, Ms. Ayla.”

Kayton turned to face the young woman across from him and thanked her.

She was a beauty with dark hair, a rarity in the Empire, and violet eyes like amethysts.

Ayla Evanail, a noblewoman of Union, the city of mages, and a mage of the Blue Tower, one of the Twelve Towers.

She was the “benefactor” who brought Pure Cola to where it is today.

With Ayla’s support, Kayton improved Pure Coke and was able to survive in the fierce imitation market.

And now, the company has broken away from imitation and is on its own path.

Pure Coke’s blue color was also derived from the blue color of its patron, Ayla’s tower, the Blue Tower.

But…….

“Lady Ayla.”

“What is it?”

Kayton opened his mouth cautiously as he watched Ayla taste the Pure Coke.

“Don’t you think Pure Coke could use some improvement? It’s not exactly Coke after all……”

“I understand your concern, but it’s good enough.”

Ayla shook her head.

She understood Kayton’s concern.

Pure Coke was less fizzy and duller than White Tower’s, but it tasted sweeter.

Some people even jokingly referred to Pure Coke as “Coke minus the carbonation.”

It wasn’t easy to change the minds of consumers who were accustomed to the taste of cola but Ayla disagreed.

“Coke or Pure Coke, it’s still sugar water,” she says.

As far as she knew, pure cola and cola were 99 percent identical in terms of ingredients.

She hasn’t figured out the 1% “secret ingredient” in White Tower’s cola, but there you have it.

Ayla, who hails from the Blue Tower, a city known for its potions, and has sold countless magical goods, knows that it’s the packaging that matters, not the contents.

In the case of Pure Coke, this was true.

“Do you think Pure Coke would have survived if it hadn’t changed its color to blue?”

“Mmm, it would have been difficult.”

When the people think of “red,” they only think of the cola from the White Tower.

All other red colas were branded as counterfeit and failed.

If Pure Coke hadn’t changed its color, it would have suffered the same fate as other cola imitators.

As Ayla says, the ingredients are usually almost identical.

“It’s all about the packaging, how it appeals to the consumer,” she says.

“That’s what White Tower does so well.”

In a clever twist, each new processed food launch is accompanied by an “episode” of its own.

For Tofu, it debunked rumors that it was a legendary food found only in elven forests; for Guinness, it used dwarves to advertise it as “the beer of the Vikings”.

And Coke with a white bear as its mascot?

‘It’s a professional touch.’

Ayla was convinced that there were professionals at the White Tower who were very good at selling things.

It wasn’t just an idea that came out of the blue, it was a carefully planned marketing technique.

‘I don’t know who he is, but I want him.’

He was too valuable to stay in the White Tower.

If possible, Ayla thought, she should bring him into the Blue Tower.

“But do you think it’s possible to do that? I’m sure the White Tower has already claimed all those things.”

“Yes, it would be difficult.”

Ayla agreed with Kayton.

It was hard for the laggards to keep up with the leaders.

‘The Coke Bear is now an integral part of the Coke brand.’

Even if Pure Coke were to follow in the footsteps of the White Tower, it’s unlikely it would have the same success as Coke Bear.

They’d be lucky if they didn’t get torn apart by a bear.

Ayla wasn’t the kind of adventurer to take chances.

She was a wizard, driven by reason, not emotion. So…….

“We are recruiting them.”

“Who do you mean?”

“Who, of course, is the Cola Bear.”

“…What?!”

“The symbol of Coke is the Coke Bear, right?”

“Ha, but I don’t know if it’s possible for the cola bear to be captured……”

“We’ll make it happen.”

Ayla smiled confidently.

“There’s no one in this world who can’t be appeased by showing good faith.”

If there is, it’s a lack of good faith.

*

“……Crrrrr, this doesn’t taste good.”

Bolitur tipped the blue bottle.

While the flavor was similar, this was not the Coke he knew.

To Bolitur, with his subtle tongue, it was a big difference.

On top of that, he had a strong emotional connection to the drink.

Not only did it improve the perception of the White Bear tribe, Cola made him a friend to the people of the Empire.

-Chaaaaaah!

Bolitur scattered the half-full bottle of Pure Coke.

The snowman’s face turned brown from the Pure Coke.

Bolitur’s instinctive reaction was to not drink it but the people had a different reaction.

“A Coke snowman!”

“Wow!”

Children ran to the Pure Coke snowman.

Some even stuck their tongues out to try it.

And then.

“…Huh?”

The kid who licked the snowman’s face went wide.

“Mmm, it’s delicious!”

“Really!”

“Coke Bear made an ice Coke!”

The Pure Coke that Bolitur had casually scattered began to go viral.

*

The iced cola recipe that Cola Bear had taught us(?) quickly became a trend in the capital.

“Even Coke Bear says he drinks Pure Coke melted in ice.”

“Pure Coke on ice, I think it would be good in summer.”

“Ewww, I think I’m getting hoarse.”

People drank Pure Cola by catching snow falling from the sky or by crushing ice into small pieces.

As iced cola caught on, Pure Coke’s sales went up.

This unexpected trend made Kayton, the creator of Pure Coke, wide-eyed.

“So, Ayla, you sent Pure Coke to the Coke Bear with this in mind?”

“…That’s right, it was the plan.”

Ayla looked puzzled for a moment, but then nodded calmly.

In fact, the trend of iced cola was a variable that even she hadn’t predicted.

She had simply sent a bottle of Pure Coke to the Coke Bear as a gift to give him a taste of it, and it had turned into an ice-cold trend.

‘I didn’t realize Cola Bear was so smart.’

They saw Pure Coke and immediately thought of incorporating it?

Ayla was blown away by the unexpected idea, but the Coke Bear didn’t seem to dislike Pure Coke.

If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have created a new menu item called Ice Coke.

By now, the White Tower must have become like a portrait studio, right?

‘Let’s go check out some faces.’

Ayla bounced along like an excited princess.

*

It’s been a week since the iced cola epidemic.

In that time, the percentage of cola sold in the capital has dropped by more than 25%.

“No, how is this possible?!”

The drop in cola sales didn’t make sense to Aria.

She was checking the register once a day, which she rarely looked at, and muttering to me.

“If it’s an iced coke, it’s just coke with ice.”

“Right?”

“Then why do people drink Pure Coke when ours tastes better?”

“Because Mr. Bolitur said so.”

Mr. Bolitur was Coke’s mascot.

Because of his one action of throwing away Pure Cola, people were drinking Pure Cola in their slushies.

“It’s only a week, it’ll blow over, so don’t worry too much.”

“Yeah, but….”

Aria couldn’t hide her anxiety.

She couldn’t get rid of the thought that her “Give a Coke to a Coke Bear” event had caused Coke’s sales to drop.

But she was wrong.

Coke’s sales had been declining since the arrival of competitors.

It was natural for Coke to lose market share, not necessarily because of slushies.

‘Even if the percentage is not high.’

The story was that Pure Cola’s current surge in popularity was just a temporary sales hit riding on the slushie fad and would not last long.

Still, Pure Coke has caught on to some extent, so it’s worth checking out…….

‘I’ll have to press it.’

It was time to launch canned Coke in earnest.