This article was translated from our Spanish edition.
This article was updated on September 15, 2021
This story originally appeared on México Desconocido
Vía México Desconocido
Surely more than once you have refreshed yourself with this delicious drink originally fromTaxco , Guerrero . How to forget its classic and unique flavor? And it is that a very cold Yoli in a glass bottle is the perfect company in food, as well as being the ideal remedy on a hot day. We tell you the story behind one of the most beloved Mexican soft drinks.
The victor
Don Manuel Castrejón, the founder and creator of Yoli, before its great success was dedicated to the soap trade and later owned two mines. It all started in 1918 as a small local business in Taxco, her name was ‘La Vencedora’. In 1925 the drink already had great acceptance, being sold outside the community in the city of Iguala. In 1933, La Vencedora changed her name to Yoli, which would last until today.
The Yoli
Manuel Castrejón and his wife, Mrs. Conchita Diez, had two children Jaime and Yolanda Castrejon Diez. In honor of his little daughter is that this soft drink was baptized as: Yoli.
You may wonder, what is the special ingredient that makes Yoli an unrivaled classic? The original recipe was created to obtain a natural flavor. The basis in its preparation is: lemon zest mixed with boiled lemon juice and sugar.
The marble was thrown!
Initially, the bottles used to pack Yoli were solely glass. To seal the bottle , a marble was placed on top, then fixed with tar , a glue also known as mucilage.
In order to open the soda, the bottle had to be shaken quickly, the pressure of the gas made the marble shoot out. This is where the famous phrase “The marble was thrown” comes from to refer to someone who went crazy, because when the marble went flying, the soda was also ejected noisily, as if it were crazy.
Yoli on the table of all Mexicans
Yoli’s market acceptance was very good and soon, what had started as a local business expanded. In 1938 Don Manuel sold the first franchise to Coca Cola, with this Yoli was able to reach more places. In 1950 the first production plant was created in Acapulco, which twenty years later would be relocated to the new facilities of the famous Cuauhtémoc Plant.
In 1970 the large production plant in Iguala was inaugurated and in 1981 a second production plant was inaugurated in Acapulco , located in the town of El Cayaco. Some years later, in 1990, Grupo Yoli modernizes and invests capital in its infrastructure to be able to integrate the injection and blowing process of PET containers into its production chain. It is important to mention that Grupo Yoli was recognized by SEMARNAT as a clean industry.
In 2013, Grupo Yoli was acquired entirely by The Coca-Cola Company. It is estimated that the amount of the transaction was almost 700 million dollars.