Decaffeinated coffee was developed in 1903 by a team of researchers led by Ludwig Roselius in Bremen, Germany. It was first sold in Germany and many other European countries in 1905–1906 under the name Kaffee HAG. In France, the brand name became Sanka, derived from the French wordssans caféine. The brand came to the United States in 1909–1910, where it was first marketed under the name "Dekafa" or "Dekofa" by an American sales agent. In 1914, Roselius founded his own company, Kaffee Hag Corporation, in New York. 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. To re-establish his product, he began to use the Sanka brand name in America. In Europe, the Hag company used the Sanka brand in many countries as a cheaper alternative to the premium brand Coffee Hag. The brand disappeared in these countries after World War II, but it continued until the 1970s as the premium brand in France. First marketed in the U.S. in 1923, Sanka was initially sold only at two Sanka Coffee Houses in New York, but it soon was brought into retail.
Radio, television and other entertainment
The intensive American advertising campaigns included the 1927 broadcasts of Sanka After-Dinner Hour, heard at 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays on New York's WEAF. Sanka was a sponsor of I Love Lucy, The Twilight Zone and The Andy Griffith Show during their respective runs on CBS television in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Andy Griffith Show Sanka sponsor spots featured the cast members. It was also a sponsor of The Goldbergs where, on many episodes, Mrs. Goldberg would address the camera and talk to the TV audience and tell them about Sanka coffee. After the sales pitch she would walk away, usually from the window, and start the show. Sanka was mentioned in an episode of Seinfeld in which Jerry, Elaine, and George go to a different cafe and Elaine orders for a decaf, to which a waitress curtly replies, "We have Sanka!" With such promotion, Sanka became a nationwide sales success with General Foods Corporation taking over distribution in 1928 as a defensive measure, since Sanka directly competed with its non-caffeine coffee substitute Postum. 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. Businesses that serve rival Folgers decaffeinated coffee usually have green-handled pots. The 1941 Laurel and Hardy comedy Great Guns includes a scene in which Stan Laurel, in an Army mess hall line, is handed a cup of coffee. He asks "Sanka?", and the mess attendant replies, "You're welcome!" In the song, "Bianca", in Cole Porter's 1948 musical-comedy Kiss Me, Kate, the lyric "I would gladly give up coffee for Sanka", is included. Sanka is also mentioned in the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, when science teacher Mr. Vargas declares, "Look, I'm a little slow today. I just switched to Sanka, so have a heart." It is revealed at the end of the film that Mr. Vargas switches back to coffee. From 1976 to 1982, veteran actor Robert Young was Sanka's television spokesman, appearing in a whole series of commercials. During the mid-1980s, a series of Sanka television commercials aired featuring Lena Horne. "Family Guy". Tom Tucker and Thelma Griffin take Peter to Burger King. Thelma orders a Sanka. In 2019, "Cobra Kai" senseiJohn Kreese orders a cup of Sanka at the local diner in Reseda. In the HBO Drama "The Sopranos" episode, "The Weight", "Lou DiMaggio" Lou Galina orders his daughter "Rose" to bring more Sanka: "Rose...more Sanka!"
Sanka albums
In France, Café Sanka issued heraldic picture albums in the same style as the Coffee Hag albums. However, only six albums of the planned 42 were ever published.
