Business | Markets
Mecca Cola rides anti-West wave with cafe chain plan
UAE-based Mecca Cola, which sells its beverages laced with political messages, says it will launch coffee shops under the brand name Mecca Cafe to provide an alternative to established Western outlets in Muslim countries.
- By Shakir Husain, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 February 22, 2006
Dubai: UAE-based Mecca Cola, which sells its beverages laced with political messages, says it will launch coffee shops under the brand name Mecca Cafe to provide an alternative to established Western outlets in Muslim countries.
The first coffee shop is ready to be opened at Dubai Healthcare City , Mecca Cola chairman Taoufik Mathlouthi told Gulf News yesterday.
The Dubai opening will be followed by coffee shops in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Pakistan's Islamabad.
"We plan to have at least one coffee shop in every Muslim capital. We will then discuss franchising arrangements for expanding the chain," Mathlouthi said.
He said the company has just launched a new energy drink called "Mecca Power."
"This drink is based purely on halal ingredients," he said.
Riding on anti-Western anger over issues like Palestine, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, Mecca Cola has achieved impressive sales in several Muslim countries.
Pakistan, Algeria, Yemen, Malaysia and France are Mecca Cola's top markets, Mathlouthi said.
Demand for Mecca Cola, first launched in October 2002 in France, is estimated to be 1.5 million cans per month in the Gulf region alone, but the company is able to meet only half this demand.
"We need to increase our production capacity," he said. The company imports all its cans from Malaysia to be filled at various plants.
Mathlouthi said the company has signed an agreement with Dubai Industrial City to acquire 300,000 square feet of land to set up a plant.
"The plant will comprise a filling unit, one section for making concentrates for drinks and one tea and coffee packaging section," said the Mecca Cola chief, who does not like to call himself a businessman.
"I am promoter of a concept. I launched Mecca Cola to break the hegemony of Western drinks," said Mathlouthi, a French citizen of Tunisian origin.
He said the anger against the blasphemous Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has increased Mecca Cola sales three-fold.
"We did not benefit directly from the boycott of Danish products because these were mostly dairy products.
"But the anger over this issue has attracted more Muslims to our products," he added.
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