Kas Manzana

Román Knorr Ortiz founded his soda company, El Ace (The Ace), in the 1920s in Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of the Basque Country. The company did well but production stopped after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. The company resumed operations in the 1950s and began selling the first flavored soda in Spain—a combination of orange juice and soda water. Kas hit the market in 1956, a few years before Coca Cola launched its first Fanta products and was a huge hit. Kas Manzana was an apple-flavored soda that came later, as part of its focus on unique-fruit flavored beverages. While Kas was acquired by Pepsi in 1992, the brand has maintained its identity as a distinctly Spanish soda, and is beloved by Spanairds as a local favorite.