In 1952, Ivan Deu, the Director of the state-owned corporation Slovenijavino, came up with the idea of producing an original, refreshing Slovenian beverage which would be able to compete against soft drinks from abroad (particularly Coca-Cola), which were not yet being sold in Yugoslavia.

[3] The chemical engineer, Emerik Zelinka, an employee of the Slovenijavino research labs, created the drink with a new, different taste, derived from a blend of eleven different herbs and spices; including the rose hip, a prominent flavour within Cockta's blend.

From Slovenia, Cockta spread across the common market of the other republics of Yugoslavia, but no dedicated bottling facilities were established.

The first bottle and label for Yugo Cockta was created by Sergej Pavlin, then a young architecture student.

[4] Many older Slovenes can still remember the posters which swept the entire country as part of the original Cockta marketing campaign: they featured a suntanned young woman, with a hairstyle considered trendy at the time, in a ponytail, with blue eyes, holding in her hands a bottle of the new beverage.