'Heavily guarded' secret formula 'keeping' Coke from sinking in shrinking market

The mystery surrounding Coca-Cola's secret recipe, which is locked away in a purpose-built vault in Atlanta, is believed to be the reason the company has managed to keep afloat despite the shrinking in the soda market as people shift to healthier options.

Even though Coke's net income in 2013 was less than 2012, the firm did better than other soda companies because the very idea of mystery attracts attention, and is often seen as an element of quality, marketing expert Ben Voyer said, CNN reported.

Voyer explained that a typical consumer would think that it must be a valuable product if they are doing all these things to protect the recipe.

Meanwhile, critic Mark Pendergrast, author of 'For God, Country and Coca-Cola', has claimed that the firm kept the formula a secret, partly in order to increase sales with a sense of special mystery and to prevent competition, but also to keep people from knowing how cheap the ingredients were and how large the profits.

Pendergrast explained that the company has never patented the formula, because to do so would require its disclosure and once the patent expired, anyone would be able to use that recipe to produce a generic version of the world famous drink.