Mecca-Cola, a French drinks producer that was established to rival the dominance of USA companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, is planning to capture up to 12% of the cola market in key Middle East markets including the UAE.
The company, which already has production plants in countries including Malaysia, Algeria, Morocco, France, Jordan and Syria, is planning to open a factory in Dubai Industrial City in September, and has also entered negotiations to open a second plant in Palestine, in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The developments follow a series of investments worth about US $8.7 million made by Mecca Cola in 2006 to establish plants in Gaza, Bangladesh and Yemen.
Mathlouthi is optimistic that Mecca-Cola can gain a 5% share of the UAE’s cola market in the first two years of starting business in the country, possibly leading to a 10% to12% market share. “In the UAE we are not selling at all at the moment but once the DIC factory opens we are sure we will do well,” he said. “A lot of people are happy because they thought we were already buried. They will be surprised. I promise them the same surprise here in the UAE. “I am targeting 5% for the two first years and then we will increase slowly. I am not here to become the first or compete with the biggest – I have my own target and if within a period of five to ten years we reach 10% to 12% market share, that is my aim.” He added that the Dubai plant will have a big capacity for producing PET bottles and cans.
Mathlouthi is keeping a close eye on the Palestinian market. While he admits business at the Gaza plan has been difficult, mainly owing to the problem of importing raw materials into the area and frequent power cuts, Mathoulhi said that there is a big demand for soft drinks in the region, and the response to the product has been strong.
“We are very optimistic. The [Gaza] plant was not able to supply all the demand and we were thinking about adding a new line after just six months,” he said. “By head of population, the percentage of consumption [of Cola] in Palestine in is the highest in the Arab world. It is a very big market. The difficulty is distribution – how to go from city to city.”
This is part of the reason Mecca-Cola is planning to establish a plant in the West Bank. The company started negotiations during the recent Gulfood 2007 exhibition to develop a plant in Ramallah, possibly during 2007, according to Mathlouthi.
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