Switzerland had its proper cola, too: Vivi Kola, produced in Eglisau north of Zurich. Giving in to the likes of Coca Cola and Pepsi, the brand disappeared in 1986. Luckily, for over ten years, Vivi Kola is produced again and sells better than ever. What many don’t know: Vivi Kola was a famous sponsor of Tour de Suisse. Reason enough for Le Picot to re-edit a mythical Vivi Kola vintage wool cycling jersey.

For many years, it looked as if Coca-Cola and Pepsi had erased the numerous local cola varieties created in Europe in the post-war years. However, the local players are back, and consumers love them.

In Switzerland, before the invention of Rivella, Vivi Kola was one of the tremendous national soft drinks alongside Orangina and Pepita. One of the founding legends is that the mineral spring Eglisau, the producer of Vivi Kola, sent employees to Cameroon, the land of the kola nut, in the mid-1930s to search for the mysterious nut and bring it to Switzerland for the production of Vivi Kola. Vivi Kola has become famous, however, above all for its cycling sponsorship. From 1949, Vivi Kola was the main sponsor of the Tour de Suisse. After each stage, the riders had to drink a bottle of Vivi Kola for the media. Thus, recordings of Swiss racing legends such as Hugo Koblet or Göpf Weilenmann carried Vivi Kola into every Swiss parlor.

In 1986, the production of Vivi Kola was unfortunately discontinued but in 2010, Christian Forrer brought Vivi Kola back to life. Since then, Christian and his team have continuously developed the Vivi Kola brand. Vivi Kola Zéro was added to the product range, without sugar and aspartame and, more recently, fruit sodas with juices from organic fruits. Christian is also the driving force behind ViCAFE, the roastery of our preferred coffee, and the operator of many coffee bars.

As a tribute to Vivi Kola and Christian and his team’s work, we have reissued the Vivi Kola Vintage Jerseys. Vivi Kola had a racing team some years ago attending the classic L’Eroica. Check out our story on this unique experience. The Vivi Kola jerseys are for women and men. They come both in short and long sleeves. They are sustainably produced from the finest Merino wool and come with the original chain stitching decorations.

Here is a link to “80 years of Swiss cola” in NZZ Bellevue.