Qibla Cola Company, the UK-based soft drinks producer which claims to offer consumers an alternative to 'colonial' US brands, is to start offering its products to "Canadians with a conscience".
The company has signed an agreement with British Columbia-based Bimex Marketing & Distribution for the local production, bottling and distribution of Qibla's range of soft drinks for the Canadian market. The brand will be marketed under the strap line 'Liberate Your Taste'.
Zahida Parveen, founder of Qibla Cola said: "The Qibla brand aims to provide consumers from within the Muslim community and all people of conscience with an alternative brand of this popular soft drink.
"The appeal for Qibla Cola is gaining global momentum. Consumers appreciate the way Qibla Cola tastes and looks whilst knowing that their money will contribute to worthy causes."
Parveen continued: "The Qibla brand offers a real alternative for people concerned by the practices of the major multinationals that support unjust causes. People are increasingly questioning the role these brands play in societies across the globe."
Mohamed Jafar Bhamji, spokesman for Bimex Marketing & Distribution in Canada said that there was a growing demand across Canada for real alternative soft drinks, a vacuum that Qibla Cola would fill well.
Qibla - from the Arabic word for direction - gives 10 per cent of all profits made to world causes, and has teamed up with a leading charity organisation specialising in delivering projects to some of the most deprived communities in the world.
The company's original cola range has recently been expanded with the addition of fruit-flavoured carbonates and a bottled water brand. All are packaged to mimic the multinational brands so vilified by the company.