Johan van Mierlo is probably Belgium’s most enthusiastic Coca-Cola Collector. He and his partner Sandrina run a memorabilia store located inside the Coca-Cola European Partners headquarters in Belgium, and they travel the world visiting Coca-Cola Collector events.
We spoke to Johan at the 2016
How I started collecting…
“It was 1982, and I was in Spain for the World Cup. I was 12 years old and crazy about football at the time. While I was at the event I bought a can of
“Our home is made up of three apartments, and two of those are full of our collection. We live in the other one.”
We go to every Coke show in Europe…
“… and a lot in the USA as well. Our store at the
“Many people know me so I’ll be meeting a lot of familiar faces today. In April we had a
The rarest item I’ve brought along today…
“…is a gallon bottle. It was used to distribute concentrated
“My partner Sandrina collects box sets from the 75th anniversary of the
A gallon bottle used for delivering concentrated
My favourite piece…
“…changes every day. I find brand new things that I love all the time, and I also still get really excited about things I already own. I don’t have a favourite item, I have an item of the day because we have so many great pieces.
“Sandrina and I live with our collection. Our home is made up of three apartments, and two of those are full of our collections. We live in the other one.”
“Coca-Cola is always one of the first to get new things on the market. Why is that? It’s fascinating.”
If I could own any Coca-Cola artefact…
If I could own any
The 1930s
“Today that would be a smart idea. But in 1930 it was amazing. Even back then,
There’s one of the pancake machines in the
What I like about the Coca Cola brand…
“It makes me happy when I see it. It’s part of life for everybody – who doesn't drink
“I prefer the UK and German versions of Cherry Coke to the Belgian one. They have slightly different flavours.”
The best thing about today…
“…is finding new things for our collection and helping out other people by bringing rare things back with us. There’s no official collectors’ club in Belgium, so we help people find things. It’s not part of our business and we don’t charge, we just like to help out.”
Part of Johan and Sandrina’s collection on display at an event in Belgium
“Part of the fun of collecting is that you have things nobody else has. Each collection is unique.”
My collection ambition…
“…is to keep enjoying myself. I collect for the love of it, and it’s a big part of life for me and Sandrina. Every morning we wake up and it's
Take a look at some of the rare items from the
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