When you’re drinking coffee in a restaurant and order decaf, it’s likely the coffee will be delivered in a glass pot with an orange band at the top. Ever wonder where that came from?
The orange label came about in 1923 when Sanka, the first commercial decaf coffee, appeared on grocery store shelves. When General Foods bought Sanka in 1932, they looked for a way to promote the coffee to restaurants. Since the Sanka can was orange at the time, General Foods put an orange band at the top of the pots and gave them away free to restaurants. Customers came to associate the orange-banded pots with Sanka, and eventually it became the generic color for all decaf coffee brands.
