How one of the world’s richest companies rose to power - Shantel George — Transcript

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1. 0:07In 1910, the Antarctic Nimrod Expedition was in trouble.
2. 0:11Led by Ernest Shackleton,
3. 0:13the team had set the record for the southernmost point ever reached.
4. 0:17But after miscalculating how long it would take to return
5. 0:20to the nearest supply depot,
6. 0:21the crew had run out of food.
7. 0:24Fatigued and desperate, they turned to their medical kit.
8. 0:27It contained a drug called “Forced March tablets,”
9. 0:31which promised to mitigate hunger and prolong endurance,
10. 0:35thanks to the powerful combination of its two ingredients:
11. 0:39cocaine, and the extract of the African kola nut.
12. 0:43After taking the pills, the team was able to push through and reach safety.
13. 0:48So how did the kola nut, a sacred ingredient from West Africa,
14. 0:52end up in Shackleton's emergency kit?
15. 0:55And how did this same combination of kola nut and cocaine
16. 0:59make its way into the original recipe of a drink
17. 1:03that billions of people consume every day?
18. 1:06The kola nut is the seed of the kola tree,
19. 1:10a small evergreen native to the tropical forests of West Africa,
20. 1:14where it has long been integral to the cultural fabric of many communities.
21. 1:19Among the Igbo, the bitter nut is known as the food of the gods.
22. 1:24In Igbo homes, its custom to greet and honor guests
23. 1:28by breaking a seed and sharing the lobes.
24. 1:31Within Yoruba communities,
25. 1:33kola plays a central role in many religious ceremonies,
26. 1:37such as weddings, funerals, and divination.
27. 1:41Kola nuts can contain up to 2.5% caffeine,
28. 1:44or about twice the concentration found in coffee beans,
29. 1:48along with trace amounts of theobromine, a structurally similar compound.
30. 1:53Both molecules stimulate the central nervous system,
31. 1:56causing effects like alertness
32. 1:58and increased blood flow to the muscles and lungs.
33. 2:01And it’s these properties that likely led to kola’s long-standing use
34. 2:05in traditional West African medicine.
35. 2:07But there’s also a bitter side to the kola nut’s history.
36. 2:11As early as the 10th century,
37. 2:13it was used by various groups in West Africa as currency
38. 2:17to purchase captives across the Sahara.
39. 2:21And in the 16th century, Portuguese and Afro-Portuguese traders in the region
40. 2:26similarly exchanged the seeds for people,
41. 2:29whom they then sold into transatlantic slavery.
42. 2:32By the 17th century, the kola nut had made its way to the Americas.
43. 2:37Brazilian oral narratives tell of enslaved peoples
44. 2:40smuggling the seeds across the Atlantic in their clothing and hair.
45. 2:44Enslavers who learned of the nut’s energizing properties often weaponized it,
46. 2:49supplying it to subjugated workers to induce more back-breaking labor.
47. 2:54However, in places like Jamaica, Cuba, and Brazil,
48. 2:57many enslaved communities managed to cultivate kola on their own,
49. 3:01allowing them to preserve and continue practicing
50. 3:04their cultural and religious traditions.
51. 3:07In the late 19th century,
52. 3:08the kola nut gained the attention of pharmacists in Europe and North America.
53. 3:12Many claimed, without much evidence,
54. 3:15that the nut contained countless medicinal and even mind-altering properties.
55. 3:20Soon, kola-containing tonics, chocolates, and lozenges lined pharmacy shelves.
56. 3:26It was combined with extracts from the coca leaf, the source of cocaine,
57. 3:30to create Shackleton’s Forced March tablets,
58. 3:33which were also supplied to British soldiers during World War I.
59. 3:38In 1886, Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton used this same potent combo
60. 3:43to create the original recipe for Coca-Cola,
61. 3:47which he claimed could treat ailments like headaches, indigestion, and impotence.
62. 3:53By the 1920s, African export of the kola nut slowed,
63. 3:56thanks in part to the introduction of another energizing seed from the region:
64. 4:01the cocoa bean.
65. 4:02Around this time, the Coca-Cola company is also said
66. 4:05to have significantly reduced the kola nut in its recipe,
67. 4:09but no one knows for sure—
68. 4:10the exact ingredients remain a closely guarded trade secret.
69. 4:15However, we do know that the company removed all traces of cocaine by 1903.
70. 4:21Today, the kola nut can still be found in various drinks and supplements,
71. 4:25like Bissy tea, a staple in many Jamaican homes.
72. 4:29Believed to have been first brought to the region on slave ships
73. 4:32in the 17th century,
74. 4:34this tea is just one example of how the kola nut, despite its bitter past,
75. 4:39continues to serve as a powerful symbol of cultural preservation and remembrance.