John S. Pemberton licensed people to bottle and sell what beverage?

John S. Pemberton licensed people to bottle and sell Coca-Cola.

Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, created Coca-Cola in 1886 as a syrup mixed with carbonated water. It was first sold mainly as a soda-fountain drink, including through drugstores, rather than as a packaged beverage.

The major shift came after Asa Candler acquired the formula and brand interests. In 1899, Chattanooga businessmen Benjamin Thomas, Joseph Whitehead, and John Lupton secured bottling rights. Their agreement helped establish Coca-Cola’s distinctive franchise-style distribution system: local bottlers produced and sold the drink in defined territories using syrup supplied by the company.

A common mix-up is crediting Pemberton personally with building the modern bottled network. He invented the beverage, but the best-known bottling agreement was made after his death, under Candler’s ownership. The first Coca-Cola bottling company began operating in Chattanooga in 1899, transforming a fountain product into a portable drink sold in shops and restaurants nationwide.