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As supporters of Palestine continue to boycott brands associated with the Israeli aggression in Gaza, a London-based man has developed an alternative to Coca-Cola — Gaza Cola.

Osama Qashoo, who founded Hiba Express, a fast-food chain serving Middle Eastern food, created Gaza Cola in November 2023. According to Al Jazeera, Qashoo highlighted that the drink, which is made from typical cola ingredients and has a sweet and acidic taste similar to Coca-Cola, “is totally different from the formula that Coke uses”.

He said all profits from the drink are being donated towards rebuilding the maternity ward of the al-Karama Hospital, northwest of Gaza City.

Qashoo started by getting Hiba Express and other local Palestinian restaurants to carry Gaza Cola. The drink is also sold by Muslim retailers such as Manchester-based Al Aqsa, which recently ran out of stock, according to the store’s manager, Mohammed Hussain. Since early August, 500,000 cans of Gaza Cola have been sold, according to Al Jazeera.

“These companies that fuel this genocide, when you hit them in the most important place, which is the revenue stream, it definitely makes a lot of difference and makes them think,” Qashoo said. Gaza Cola, he adds, is “going to build a boycott movement” that will hit Coke financially.

According to the publication, family played a role in Qashoo’s drive to launch Gaza Cola. Today, he does not know the whereabouts of his adopted 17-year-old son in the West Bank, who was shot in the head in June.

“I have family in Gaza who have been decimated,” he said. “I’ve got friends — I don’t know where they are.”

Since October 7, 2023, boycotts of Coca-Cola were renewed because the brand operates facilities in the Israeli Atarot industrial settlement in occupied East Jerusalem. According to Reuters, many consumers shunning Coca-Cola and PepsiCo cite US support of Israel over decades, including in the current, ongoing conflict with Hamas.

Coca-Cola and its rival PepsiCo both also face boycotts in Pakistan where consumers are opting for local brands. Restaurants, Karachi’s private schools association and university students have all taken part in anti-Coca-Cola actions, eroding goodwill built through sponsorship of Coke Studio, Reuters reported.

Big soda companies are no strangers to pressure among the Muslim world’s hundreds of millions of consumers. After Coca-Cola opened a factory in Israel in the 1960s, it was hit by an Arab League boycott that lasted until the early 1990s and benefited Pepsi for years in the Middle East.

Coca-Cola still lags behind Pepsi’s market share in Egypt and Pakistan, according to market research firm GlobalData. PepsiCo, which entered Israel in the early 1990s, itself faced boycotts when it purchased Israel’s SodaStream for $3.2 billion in 2018.