How the Palestine conflict is powering Ambani’s cola dreams in India

“Can you help me become a Campa distributor?” Ramesh Singh asked this reporter eagerly. Singh is a salesperson for Coca-Cola’s bottling partner, Enrich Agro Food Products Private Limited, in South East Delhi. Like in most countries across the world, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, two American brands, dominate the carbonated soft drink market in India, controlling more than 90% of revenues.

Of late, however, they are facing a rare challenge: a local brand is weaning away their customers. For the past two years, Reliance’s Campa Cola has eaten into the market share of these American cola giants. At Reliance's annual general meeting in August, the company claimed Campa Cola now holds “double-digit market share across many states, breaking a 30-year MNC [Multinational Corporation] duopoly”.

Singh’s desire to switch boats is due to the fact that he estimates that Coca-Cola had lost about 20% of its business in South East Delhi alone, much of it to Campa. In Muslim localities, Campa has even emerged as the best-selling cola.

What is powering Campa’s success? Part of the answer lies in an unlikely place: the genocide in Gaza. Some Indian drinkers of Coca-Cola and Pepsi, most of them Muslims, are boycotting the American brands due to their links with Israel.

This is not limited to...

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