Hit (drink)

Hit

Type	Soft drink
Manufacturer	Coca-Cola FEMSA Venezuela
Country of origin	Venezuela
Introduced	1956; 68 years ago (1956)
Related products	Fanta, Mirinda

Hit is a carbonated fruit-flavored soft drink brand owned by The Coca-Cola Company that is available in Venezuela, and is sold as the Venezuelan counterpart to Coca-Cola's existing Fanta brand.

History

Hit was first introduced in 1956 by Grupo Cisneros' beverage division, who at the time was known as the bottler of Pepsi products in the country. The venture was later renamed as Hit de Venezuela.

In August 1996, Coca-Cola announced a new joint-venture with Grupo Cisneros called Emboutelladoras Coca-Cola y Hit de Venezuela, completely pulling Pepsi out of the Venezuelan market.^[1][2] During the formation of the new joint-venture, Coca-Cola purchased the Hit, Chinotto and Frescolita brands from Grupo.^[3]

On May 13, 1997, it was announced that Panamerican Beverages Inc., Coca-Cola's Latin-American distributor, had fully purchased the Emboutelladoras Coca-Cola y Hit de Venezuela joint-venture outright for $1.01 billion.^[4] Coca-Cola later discontinued Fanta in the country and rebranded Hit into the Venezuelan counterpart to Fanta.

Products

Current

• Hit Apple (Manzanita in Spanish, literally "Little Apple")
• Hit Grape (Uva in Spanish)
• Hit Orange (Naranja in Spanish)
• Hit Kolita (mix of tutti-frutti, vanillin and chewing gum)
• Hit Pineapple (Piña in Spanish)

Discontinued

• Hit Passion Fruit (Parchita in Spanish)
• Hit Tangerine (Mandarina in Spanish)
• Hit Guarana (renamed as Senzao)
• Hit Grapefruit (Toronja in Spanish, renamed Quatro)

References

1. "La Frescolita y los Frescolocos". Cuando era Chamo. 27 August 2007. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
2. Jose Enrique Arrioja (8 October 1996). "Pepsi se sale del guion y conjura la sombra de Chile". eluniversal.com. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
3. "La Frescolita y los Frescolocos". 27 August 2007.
4. "Mexico's Panamco Buys Coke Venture in Venezuela". Wall Street Journal. 13 May 1997.