Zamzam (, ''Zemzem'', formerly Zamzam Cola) is a brand of

soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...

produced in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

by Zamzam Group. It is popular in parts of the

West Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

, having gained a status there as an alternative to

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

and

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

. The director of the Zamzam Group is Ahmad-Haddad Moghaddam. Zamzam Group is owned by the

Mostazafan Foundation The Mostazafan Foundation of Islamic Revolution ( fa, بنیاد مستضعفان انقلاب اسلامی) formerly Bonyad-e Mostazafan va Janbazan (Foundation of the Oppressed and Disabled or "MFJ") is a charitable '' bonyad'', or foundation, i ...

History

Originally a subsidiary of

created in Iran in 1954 as the first Iranian carbonated

producer owned by

Habib Sabet Habib Sabet Pasal ( fa, حبیب ثابت‎; 1903 – 1993) was a businessman and follower of the Baháʼí Faith. Both his maternal and paternal grandparents were Iranian Jews who had converted to the Bahá’i Faith. He is considered one of I ...

. Following Islamic revolution in 1979, the company was taken from his original owner without compensation and the named was changed to ZamZam. Following the 2002

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, Zamzam was unofficially dubbed the soft drink of the

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

. The product's name is a reference to the Well of Zamzam in

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

, that is one of the stops on the Islamic pilgrimage of the

. The headquarters of Zamzam are in Tehran,

. The bottling facility in Tehran is a popular attraction where people can see the drink being bottled. The production was at first a single production line, and now it owns seventeen beverage plants in Iran as well as several international companies, which produce and distribute Zamzam products under its licence. Zamzam Group has developed the most well equipped beverage concentrate plant in the West Asia. Zamzam Group had significant presence in domestic and international markets, and produces over one hundred diverse products including cola, lemon, orange, lemonade, mango, mineral water, energy drink, and non-alcoholic malt beverage. Zamzam is also available in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

and other surrounding nations.

References

External links

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Zam Zam Foods North America Inc, distributors in the United States and Canada."Cola wars as Islam shuns the real thing"
article from ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', October 11, 2002.
Islamic cola 'selling well in Saudi'
''BBC News'' - August 21, 2002 Cola brands Iranian brands Iranian drinks Food and drink companies of Iran {{soft-drink-stub