IRAQ: THE BAGHDAD SOFT DRINKS COMPANY IS BACK IN THE PEPSI COMPANY FOLD AFTER 13 YEARS OF UN SANCTIONS

Record ID: 576310

  • Title: IRAQ: THE BAGHDAD SOFT DRINKS COMPANY IS BACK IN THE PEPSI COMPANY FOLD AFTER 13 YEARS OF UN SANCTIONS
  • Date: 22nd January 2004
  • Summary: (EU) ZAAFARANIYA, BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JANUARY 22, 2004)(REUTERS) 1. GV: ENTRANCE OF BAGHDAD SOFT DRINKS COMPANY, MIXED SECTOR 0.00 2. GV: A SIGN AT THE ENTRANCE READING (IN ARABIC) BAGHDAD SOFT DRINKS COMPANY, MIXED COMPANY , ZAAFARANIYA FACTORY 0.06 3. VARIOUS: OF THE SOFT DRINK BOTTLING PROCESS AT THE BAGHDAD FACTORY (10 SHOTS) 0.10 4. DIRECTOR OF BAGHDAD SOFT DRINKS COMPANY, HAMID JASSIM KHAMIS, ENTERING HIS OFFICE AND SITTING BEHIND HIS DESK (2 SHOTS) 1.03 5. SCU: SOUNDBITE (Arabic) DIRECTOR OF BAGHDAD SOFT DRINKS COMPANY, HAMID JASSIM KHAMIS, SAYING: "During the sanctions the American company refused to deal with us but after liberation and the fall of the regime, the Pepsi Cola Company contacted us and we had discussions with them and we were granted licence in a normal way." 1.14 6. VARIOUS: OF FULL BOTTLES COMING OFF THE FACTORY LINE (5 SHOTS) 1.33 7. SCU: SOUNDBITE (Arabic) HAMID JASSIM KHAMIS, SAYING: "The only condition that they put is that we buy cola concentrate from them to guarantee the quality of the product and to supervise the quality control of the product and they will help in field of marketing through their expertise." 2.03 8. VARIOUS: OF FEMALE STAFF MEMBER OF COMPANY TESTING PEPSI (5 SHOTS) 2.23 9. VARIOUS: FORK-LIFT TRUCK LIFTING PEPSI CRATES (3 SHOTS) 2.54 (EU) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JANUARY 22, 2004) (REUTERS) 10. GV: STREET SCENE IN BAGHDAD OUTSIDE SHOP WITH PEPSI LOGO 3.12 11. GV: MEN ENTER SHOP AND SHOP OWNER GIVES THEM SOFT DRINKS FROM THE FRIDGE 3.19 12. MV: SOUNDBITE (Arabic) ONE OF THE PEOPLE, SAYING: "I used to drink (Pepsi) cans but I am now preferring bottles. It's quality is good." 3.39 13. VARIOUS: OF PEOPLE ARRANGING PEPSI CRATES AND LOADING THEM INTO CAR BOOTS (3 SHOTS) 3.48 (EU) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JANUARY 22, 2004) (REUTERS) 14. VARIOUS: OF MEN LOADING PEPSI CRATES INTO BACK OF PICK-UP AT SOFT DRINKS FACTORY IN ZAAFARANIYA (3 SHOTS) 4.02 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 6th February 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVABHTRYRLIXX3MSIRVZIMQQLE10
  • Story Text: Baghdad Soft Drinks Company is back in the PepsiCo
    fold after 13 years of UN sanctions.




    Iraqi Soft Drinks Company, which has been selling
    fake Pepsi cola for the past 14 years, will start
    manufacturing the genuine article within a few months.

    The US soft drinks giant signed a franchise agreement
    early this month with Baghdad Soft Drinks, Iraq's leading
    producer, authorising it to produce and distribute Pepsi,
    Seven-Up and Mirinda soft drinks in central Iraq.

    According to the deal, the company was awarded a
    five-year licence as the sole distributor of Pepsi soft
    drinks in the central region of Iraq.

    Baghdad Soft Drinks Company first became a Pepsi
    franchisee in 1984.

    However that relationship ended in 1990 when PepsiCo
    had to pull out of Iraq following the invasion of Kuwait
    and the imposition of international trade sanctions on
    Saddam Hussein's regime. Since then, the company has been
    bottling and distributing non-brand cola in Pepsi bottles
    imported from countries such as Turkey and Iran.

    "During the sanctions the American company refused to
    deal with us but after liberation and the fall of the
    regime, the Pepsi Cola Company contacted us and we had
    discussions with them and we were granted licence in a
    normal way," said director of Baghdad Soft Drinks Company,
    Hamid Jassim Khamis.

    Khamis said that according to the deal, the PepsiCo
    has the right to supervise the quality control of the
    products.

    "The only condition that they put is that we buy cola
    concentrate from them to guarantee the quality of the
    product and to supervise the quality control of the product
    and they will help in field of marketing through their
    expertise," he added.

    During years when U.N. sanctions were in force, the
    company shipped in cola concentrate from Europe and
    distributed a bootleg version of the global brand drink.

    PepsiCo representatives returned to Iraq as soon as
    sanctions were lifted in May and inspected the bottling
    plant at Zaafaranyia in southern Baghdad.

    The factory built in 1983 and with a quarter of its
    shares held by the ousted regime, did not lie idle during
    the sanctions.

    The factory was closed for some weeks during last years
    U.S. invasion of Iraq but production of the bootleg cola
    resumed at the company's Baghdad plant in early May.

    Seven production lines have kept working, awaiting the
    resumption of the Pepsi franchise. A substitute cola
    concentrate imported from Europe was used to fill 6,000
    six-packs a day.

    The company now faces competition from 20 other
    manufacturers in Iraq who also churn out other colas at a
    third or a quarter of the cost of the real thing.

    "I used to drink (Pepsi) cans but I am now preferring
    bottles. Its quality is good," said a man who was buying
    Pepsi produced by the company.

    The Baghdad Soft Drinks Co. is majority owned by over
    30,000 private shareholders.

    Thirty-five percent is controlled by state-owned
    institutions, and a further 10 percent stake belonged to
    Saddam Hussein's son Uday. His stake has been frozen by the
    Finance Ministry.





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