Max Keith was a German businessman who invented Fanta during World War II in Germany.
When he was 30 years old, he worked at a German subsidiary of Coca-Cola in 1933. Sales of Coca-Cola in Germany rose from 100,000 cases in 1933 to over 4 million cases in 1939. Because of the Allied blockade, Coca-Cola GmbH was unable to get Coca-Cola syrup during World War II. The supply of regular Coca-Cola ran out in 1942. To keep the plant in operation, Keith developed a fruit flavored drink made from apple fiber, left over from cider pressings, and whey, a byproduct from cheese manufacture, creating Fanta.
Fanta sold three million cases in 1943, sustaining the firm's business in Germany. In 1945, at the last stages of the war, Keith was ordered by a German general to rename the subsidiary, but he refused. The general was killed in an air raid before any action was taken against Keith.