Qibla-Cola
Type	Cola
Manufacturer	Qibla Cola Company
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Introduced	January 2003
Related products	Coca-Cola, Zam Zam Cola, Mecca Cola

Qibla Cola a cola-flavoured carbonated beverage is the flagship product of the Qibla Cola Company, based in Derby, England. The company differentiates itself and its products from its rivals by making an ethical stance in all its operations including giving 10% of its profits to worthy charitable causes. For other uses, see Cola (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... The wave shape (known as the dynamic ribbon device) present on all Coca-Cola cans throughout the world derives from the contour of the original Coca-Cola bottles. ... Zam Zam Cola is a cola-flavoured soft drink produced in Iran. ... Mecca-Cola is a cola-flavoured carbonated beverage. ... For other uses, see Cola (disambiguation). ... A soft drink is a drink that contains no alcohol. ... Derby (pronounced dar-bee ) is a city in the East Midlands of England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

Founders

The two founders of the company were cousins, Zahida Parveen and Zafer Iqbal. Zahida Parveen had been involved in a number of charitable projects, decided to initiate this company with a social aim of giving 10% of all profits to charity.

Launch

Qibla Cola was launched onto the UK market in February 2003, with a nationwide distribution established within months. Strong media interest resulted in reports appearing in the global media and distribution and investment offers coming worldwide. 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for February, 2003. ...

Agreements had been reached with distributors in other countries in Europe, North America and Asia, including Canada, Netherlands, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey and Malaysia.

Philosophy

An advertising poster for Qibla Cola.

Qibla Cola's marketing strategy and corporate vision reflected an attempt to tap into a desire for responsible consumption. They claimed to offer a genuine alternative for those cola-drinkers who are wary about the practices and ethics of the major multinational soft-drink companies. Qibla's ethical stance manifested itself in the company's pledge to donate 10% of its net profits to humanitarian causes around the world. Download high resolution version (500x735, 36 KB)Qibla Cola advertising poster. ... Download high resolution version (500x735, 36 KB)Qibla Cola advertising poster. ... For other uses, see Ethics (disambiguation). ... The word multinational can refer to: A Multinational corporation A Multinational State This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ...

The company said that its name, qibla was used in its primary linguistic sense, to mean "direction". Qibla Cola was thus aimed at consumers of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds, although the company noted that they have had more success on Muslim markets and that all their products are halal. Halal (حلال, alāl, halaal) is an Arabic term meaning permissible. In the English language it most frequently refers to food that is permissible according to Islamic law. ...

The word qibla is also a reference to the word Qibla used by Muslims to indicate the direction of the Masjid al Haram in the holy city of Mecca, towards which all Muslims turn when praying. The Kaaba (Arabic: ; IPA: ) , also known as (), ( The Primordial House), or ( The Sacred House), is a large cuboidal building located inside the mosque known as al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. ... A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... Masjid al Haram Al-Masjid al-Haram (Arabic: ) is a very large mosque in the city of Makkah (Mecca). ... This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ...

Additionally it has been suggested Qibla is a play in the surname of one of the founders - Iqbal.

In addition to its two cola varieties, the company produced and sold the following products:

• Qibla Mango
• Qibla Guava
• Qibla Fantasy (orange flavour)
• Qibla 5 (lemon-lime)
• Qibla Water (premium spring water)

Qibla's chief competitors included Iran's Zam Zam Cola, in addition to the US-originating products of the Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola families. Zam Zam Cola is a cola-flavoured soft drink produced in Iran. ... The wave shape (known as the dynamic ribbon device) present on all Coca-Cola cans throughout the world derives from the contour of the original Coca-Cola bottles. ... Pepsi-Cola, most commonly called Pepsi, is a soft drink produced by PepsiCo which is sold worldwide in stores, restaurants and vending machines. ...

Progress

Operations in Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan and Bangladesh are on-going as independent entities.

The UK arm of the company was put into administration in September 2005 following claims by the owners of anti-competitive practices of competitors.

External links

• The Qibla Cola Company