Fieldwork Assignment 1: Can of Sprite
Sprite is a lemon-lime flavored soft drink produced by the Coca Cola company, which was founded in 1892 in Atlanta, MD.
What is the history of the item?
Sprite was first produced in 1959 in West Germany under the name Fanta Klare Zitrone ("Clear Lemon Fanta") as a competitor to 7-Up. it was marketed as Sprite in the US in 1961.
The Coca Cola company itself only produces syrup concentrates, which are made into soda at bottling plants by adding filtered water, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate, carbonation, and varying types and amounts of sweeteners depending on where the soda is produced. for instance, in the US, high fructose corn syrup is used to sweeten most soft drinks, while in Mexico cane sugar is used. The Syrup itself is a trade secret,so i don’t know what it’s made of.
Where was your item made or manufactured?
The syrup concentrate produced by the Coca Cola company is sold roughly to 900 bottling plants worldwide. However, because of the different laws and regulations in different countries, the final product is often distributed not far from where they are bottled. This particular can was most likely produced in the Baltimore Coca-cola factory.
What impact does the item have on your life?
I drink a lot of this stuff. An unhealthy amount.
Who are the people directly involved with making or manufacturing this item? What is life like for them?
The bottling plants are mostly machines, with some human operators, maintenance workers and supervisors, most of whom get paid enough to live off of in Maryland, where the average living wage is about 31k a year. However, pay varies from place to place, so other workers may not be making a livable wage.
