If you’re gonna start off clean, you might as well be as clean as possible and also make sure the product itself does not have negative health effects.

To be honest, charitable donations aren’t that high on list. They make a difference if the basic factors about the product make it a worthwhile buy – or at least close. I remember Makkah cola had a bit of an aftertaste.

I mean if it’s just 10% of profits – which is may be 2% of the sale price at most, I can buy the cheaper or better product, and make my own donation.

The bigger factor here is supporting Muslim Business.

This however might change if the charity in question was one I feel emotionally attached to – e.g. to Gaza.

I am not particularly interested in what sort of criteria is used for decided donations. Essentially, the company can pick where they want to donate and if I agree with their choice, I will be inclined to make the purchase. At the same time, if I seriously dislike the quality I would defnitely not buy the product.

At the same time I will be interested in making the purchase if what they are supporting is indifferent to me and I enjoy the quality of the product.

I will definitely think twice when the charity is what I don’t agree with.

So, using the charity phrase can bring customer loyalty but can harm the customer relationship if the charity is not liked by the customer. In other words, the company will have to work extra hard to satisfy the customer in quality and the choice of their charity.

I am sorry if I am repeating some of what has been said here as I haven’t read it all so far.

Firstly, I may pick up a product for the first time if I believe some other greater good may come out of me purchasing the product. However this means that I need to specifically know towards which cause my efforts are going. And “10% to charities” just doesn’t cut it for me.

Having said that, I would however buy a product if I thought it was supporting muslims. I really believe firmly in the muslim ummah supporting each other. There are many other religious groups who do a really good job of supporting and fostering products for and inspired by, the community, for the community. I think muslims can learn a thing or two from these groups and through our buying power and loyalty help muslim business prosper and through it help build a stronger sense of muslim community and foster stronger bonds in the muslim ummah. Which is needed more than ever now.

As for the product itself, it would need to be equal to or greater in quality for me to completely replace my previous choice. If the quality was less I would still be inclined to buy the muslim sponsored version vs. not 50% of the time, given proper availability.

Qibla cola in my opinion is not a socially responsible business (as outlined in most of the comments above. But more they are using a marketing gimmick for sales. If I were them, I would have taken a different approach and marketed as cola for muslims by muslims. That to me has a stronger pull then any charity donations.

Having said all that…. has anyone even tried this stuff? Let me vocalize the question I’m sure we’re all wondering. Yo… is this stuff more like RC cola or more like Coca-cola?

It makes sense that one has to look at the entire production process to verify such a claim.

Wouldn’t that involve a lot of transparency on the part of a company? Also, if such information was available, wouldn’t consumers be overwhelmed (if the decision is to choose a brad of cola?)

I am reminded of companies that claim to be going ‘green’ without instituting anything more than a cosmetic change. However, his also reminds me of auditing organizations that exist to verify such claims.

Maybe companies should go through some sort of audit before consumers can trust their claims. I wonder what you think.

Hmm your view seems to be inline with most people who have commented. You said you would choose to support them since they’re a Muslim business, what if they had a competitor that was also Muslim? I’m asking because I’m curious what the decided factor would be then. Assuming another product existed similar to Qibla cola, was produced by an Islamic corporation, and tasted the same, then what would help you decide? Do you think the fact Qibla cola brands themselves with ‘Qibla’ you would have a stronger connection to it? Would them showcasing or mentioning one of their charitable works matter?

I’m trying to figure out the order of priority for customer when making a purchase that involves Islamically centered or related products in comparison to other non-Islamic or Islamic products.

Subsequently, Qibla cola will not be as compelling to me if the product is not competitive in terms of quality, price and taste. The donation to charity would be a driving factor if I knew exactly where my donation was going at the time of purchase. Let’s be honest, each of us have our preferences of charitable causes. And knowing our donation is going to some cause we are more partial to will lead be greater inclination to purchase Qibla Cola. Putting a vague statement such as “10% to good causes” might perhaps have the same affect on someone who cares about certain social causes and someone who doesn’t care about social causes.

A companies ethical goals are in two parts, ethical production goals and ethical social goals. Qibla cola is trying to accomplish both without a solid foundation of either. Qibla cola has done their part of placing their ethical goals as a parody of nutritional information to market their social mission. I agree with other people’s comments about transparency, there isn’t enough.

I looked through Qibla colas website but couldn’t find any info regarding their ethical production goals. Things like are their employees being payed and treated fairly? Is the production least environmentally damaging? Etceteras. This might be in the extreme but even the well-being of the consumer. I find it funny and ironic sugar water, artificial colouring, phosphoric acid is not an example of a healthy product. Carbonated drinks lead to another societal problem in the area of health.

An excerpt taken from Organic consumers association :

“Tooth loss, periodontal disease, and gingivitis can be problems, especially with a high phosphorus intake, particularly from soft drinks. All kinds of bone problems can occur with prolonged calcium deficiency, which causes a decrease in bone mass. Rickets in children, osteomalacia (decreased bone calcium) in adults, and osteoporosis (porous and fragile bones) can
occur when calcium is withdrawn from bones faster than it is deposited.Fractures are more common with osteoporosis the United States are related to this prevalent nutritional deficiency
disease”

I would much rather have companies follow ethical production goals first and then donate to charity. What’s your opinion? What would sway your spending more, ethical production goals or ethical social goals (charitable donations )?

In saying all this, I commend Qibla cola for their noble initiative and Tareq for a great review.

The amount they give to charity will (I hope) reflect their financial situation (however good or bad) in that/the previous year.

Maybe that’s a barrier to transparency?

They could improve the website though.