Cola Wars
The Cola Wars are raging in Qatar. Many brands are scrapping for market share. Years ago Pepsi was king, along with it’s affiliated brands, but not much else was here. More recently, Coca Cola moved into this territory with a vengeance, and now a plethora of local brands are coming out as well.
The photo above is Mecca Cola. I believe it’s actually made in France, but I’m not sure. In any case it is produced to be marketed in the Islamic world. The appeal is to religion. 10% of profits go to charity, and the can reminds you to “drink your conscience”.
There is also Qatar Cola, Star Cola from the UAE, and a few others whose names I can’t remember. Part of the reason for the entry of these brands may be due to a general boycott of US goods being practiced by some people. More important though I think is simple regional pride. Qatar, and the Gulf in general is trying to produce as many things as practical for the local market, in order to diversify the economy.
Qatar Cola failed our household taste test, but Mecca Cola got rave reviews, and Star Cola is adequate. Your mileage may vary.
The photo above is Mecca Cola. I believe it’s actually made in France, but I’m not sure. In any case it is produced to be marketed in the Islamic world. The appeal is to religion. 10% of profits go to charity, and the can reminds you to “drink your conscience”.
There is also Qatar Cola, Star Cola from the UAE, and a few others whose names I can’t remember. Part of the reason for the entry of these brands may be due to a general boycott of US goods being practiced by some people. More important though I think is simple regional pride. Qatar, and the Gulf in general is trying to produce as many things as practical for the local market, in order to diversify the economy.
Qatar Cola failed our household taste test, but Mecca Cola got rave reviews, and Star Cola is adequate. Your mileage may vary.
posted by dervish at Saturday, May 07, 2005
5 Comments:
as salaam alaikum
"No more drinking stupid, drink with commitment" the Mecca cola slogan. The added bonus of 10% of profits to Palestine and 10% to European NGO's is a bonus. But I can't find diet so I haven't even tried it.
There is also "zam-zam cola" which is out of Iran. That didn't last long in our neighborhood. In fact you have to look hard for Mecca cola.
I'm not to convinced about boycotts because they do end up hurting people regionally. We have a pepsi production plant in town, my children go to school with the family that owns it. Ok they are too rich, but they also employee many saudis and foriegn workers. So what happens to their income if boycotts forced them out of buisness?
I debated this with a Saudi guy, very convinced that he was doing something. Told his daughter Bush owned McDonalds, although this is not factual he felt really sure. Of course I told him you really want to make a statement quit working for your American employer. That was too much of a statement I guess.
Then there are Arab owned companies like Americana that were hurt just because of their name.
Have to say Mecca cola didn't last in our house. Either did zamzam cola.
As-Salaamu 'alaikum,
In this country we have Mecca Cola and Qibla Cola, a locally-produced brand. You can't get much of either in London.
There was a shop in Tooting which stocked Zamzam Cola for a while, and then stopped, and then stocked Mecca Cola for a while, and then stopped. There were a couple of places in Notting Hill area which stocked Qibla Cola for a while ... and then stopped.
I managed to get a bottle of what I suspect was dodgy Qibla Cola in an Islamic shop in east London (Upton Park). I looked at the label and there were spelling mistakes and the label didn't look like it was good quality.
It's bizarre that these drinks have been such a miserable failure in London. When I visited a sister in the Midlands for marriage purposes a year or two ago, they had bottles of the stuff - I got the impression that it was readily available. But every Muslim catering business stocks Coke and/or Pepsi.
Mecca Cola, as well as the local brands has been pretty reliably available until this month. Inventories of lots of products get a bit whacky at this time of year, because the country largely empties out for the summer (Qataris too).
Mecca Cola has pretty good market penetration within Gulf based grocery stores, but the foreign stores (Carre Four, etc)don't always carry it.
It has almost no profile within convenience stores and restaurants.
I have seen Zam-Zam Cola here, though not reliably. I haven't heard of Qibla Cola.
Hi dervish,
I saw your comment on Saudi Jean and came to your blog. I had ZamZam cola as well as Mecca Cola, and I honestly did not find it different from Pepsi or Coke, but then again my taste buds are weak anyway. We used to get Mecca Cola at our place in London, but everyone thought that it tasted funny and not upto Coke's standards.
I am in Dubai now, and I don't really see Mecca Cola a lot everywhere. You have to search hard for it. Initially, I felt a little weird about it, because I was under the impression that the makers of these colas were using the Islamic names to bring in more of the Muslims into buying their products. It was later when I broke out of this idea of using Islamic names for business to make money. They had sincere intentions to provide an alternative to Coke and Pepsi. By the way, do you notice how so many people boycott Pepsi and Coke, yet go ahead to drink Mirinda and 7Up, and not realize that these drinks come from the same makers of Pepsi and Coke!? lol! :)
Mansur
Qatar cola is new, it's in a white, red and blue can... kinda bitter. I haven't seen Laban up.
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