Tried and tested: Six alternative colas available in the UAE

These days, supermarket shelves in the UAE are seemingly stocked with more soda brands than ever. Declining sales for Coca-Cola and Pepsi has paved the way for local and regional brands to thrive.

Homegrown colas from the UAE and Saudi Arabia now sit alongside nostalgic favourites from India and organic imports from the UK, but how do they stack up? Here’s our guide to six brands that are easily found on shelves of UAE grocery stores and baqalas.

Star (UAE)

Price: Dh1.95

This homegrown Emirati soft drink was developed in Sharjah. It is owned by International Beverage and Filling Industries, which exports to more than 35 countries. They are known for their Star brand of carbonated drinks, which includes various flavours such as mango, lemon-lime and ginger.

Alokozay (UAE)

Price: Dh1.25

Alokozay is a UAE-based conglomerate, with this cola part of its large beverage lineup. The company is most well-known for its tea, although it also has bottled water and soft drinks, marketed locally and internationally. Alokozay Cola comes in regular and diet as well as other flavours such as lemon and lime, orange, apple mint and pomegranate.

Kinza (Saudi Arabia)

Price: Dh2.79

Kinza (Arabic for "treasure") is a Saudi soft drink brand launched by Al-Jameel International, a prominent family-owned business in the region. Introduced in 2022, it is manufactured and packaged in the kingdom. Kinza Cola has rapidly gained popularity across Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East.

The product line includes cola, diet cola, lemon, orange, and limited regional flavours such as guarana and pomegranate. Kinza emphasises the use of natural ingredients, aligns with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 for local industry growth, and is marketed as embodying regional pride.

Milaf (Saudi Arabia)

Price: Dh3.50

This recent Saudi innovation was launched in December 2024 at the Riyadh Date Festival. Developed by Thurath Al-Madina, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, it is the world’s first date-based soft drink. Instead of refined sugar or artificial sweeteners, Milaf is naturally sweetened with Saudi date extract.

Campa (India)

Price: Dh5.25 (500 mL bottle)

The famous Indian cola brand was established in 1977 after the exit of multinational brands from the Indian market. Known for its nostalgic appeal, Campa recently experienced a revival and expansion into new markets such as the UAE, with offerings in orange, lemon and jeera (cumin).

Whole Earth (UK)

Price: Dh12.50

The company was founded in 1967 by brothers who initially opened an organic, vegetarian restaurant and wanted to contribute to the early organic food movement in the UK. Its sodas are made with natural, organic ingredients, including agave syrup, lemon juice and barley malt extract. They are free from artificial flavours, colours, preservatives and high-fructose corn syrup.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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