When I was a kid visiting India, there were basically two sodas.... Lemony "Limca", and the coke knock-off "Thums Up". No American soda could be found, and my parents told me a kind of nutty story to explain the situation (which a quick internet search seems to partially verify).
It seemed that India, in a kind of socialist madness, started nationalizing various industries. Air India was brought under the gov't, and the quality plummeted. Then India set its sights on Coke, which was doing a decent business in India. They informed Coke that it was to hand over the secret formula to the the gov't, who would make the beverage itself (presumably giving coke a cut). Coke refused, and was kicked out.
The gov't then introduced its own soft drinks- Limca and Thums Up (.... yes, there is no "b" in "Thums Up"). Supposedly the first incarnation of Thums Up was terrible, though I like the version being sold right now.
About 20 years ago the Indian economy opened up, and Coke once again flooded the market. Coke itself has bought Limca and Thums Up, which remain so popular that Limca has spawned some imitators. We did a taste test between the original Limca and its copycats. We personally still prefer the original....
It seemed that India, in a kind of socialist madness, started nationalizing various industries. Air India was brought under the gov't, and the quality plummeted. Then India set its sights on Coke, which was doing a decent business in India. They informed Coke that it was to hand over the secret formula to the the gov't, who would make the beverage itself (presumably giving coke a cut). Coke refused, and was kicked out.
The gov't then introduced its own soft drinks- Limca and Thums Up (.... yes, there is no "b" in "Thums Up"). Supposedly the first incarnation of Thums Up was terrible, though I like the version being sold right now.
About 20 years ago the Indian economy opened up, and Coke once again flooded the market. Coke itself has bought Limca and Thums Up, which remain so popular that Limca has spawned some imitators. We did a taste test between the original Limca and its copycats. We personally still prefer the original....
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