Sanka
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'''Sanka''' is a brand of [[decaffeination|decaffeinated]] [[coffee]], sold around the world, and was one of the earliest decaffeinated varieties.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} 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]].<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaffeination#Roselius_process</ref> It was first sold in Germany and many other European countries in 1905–06 under the name "Kaffee HAG".{{Fact|date=May 2008}} In France and other countries, the brand name became "Sanka", derived from the [[French language|French]] words ''sans caféine'' ("without caffeine").{{Fact|date=May 2008}} 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.{{Fact|date=May 2008}}
In 1914, Roselius founded his own company called [[Kaffee Hag Corporation]] in New York.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} 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.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} 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.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} At the beginning, it was sold only in two "Sanka Coffee Houses" in New York, but soon it also came into retail.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} 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.)
==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 <ref>[http://www.heraldryshop.biz/catalogue/albums/hagfr.htm|Café Sanka albums]</ref>
== Popular Culture (USA)==
* Sanka was a [[sponsor]] of ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' during its initial run on [[Columbia Broadcasting System|CBS]] television in the 1950s.<ref>Davis, Madelyn Pugh, et al. I Love Lucy. Complete sixth season. Hollywood, Calif: Paramount Home Entertainment, 2006.</ref>
* During the 1970s, a series of television commercials featuring actor [[Robert Young (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.{{Fact|date=May 2008}}
* In the movie Cool Runnings, there was a character named Sanka Coffie, whose name sounds like the brand of coffee.
* In the ''[[Family Guy]]'' episode "[[Peter's Daughter]]", 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.
==External links==
*[http://www.kraft.com/100/founders/LRoselius.html Kraft Foods profile on Ludwig Roselius]
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[[Category:Coffee brands]]
[[Category:Kraft brands]]