Evoca – A New Player in the Cola Market

THE MUSLIM WEEKLY 2004
It all began two years ago when founders Ibrar Qasim and Asif Salahudeen undertook a business trip to Pakistan trying to source furniture for the UK Market. They soon realised that consumers there had confidence in products from the West, identifying with companies such as Nestle, Coca Cola and Pepsi. This over time had created a massive commercial void, which combined an inferiority complex with a lack of self-awareness.

A need to ‘raise the game’ was their reaction and as similar symptoms existed in Britain (although to a lesser degree) the concept of Evoca was born. Evoking Muslim memories through taste in a bid to make them more constructive in the modern world.

In a discussion over lunch at their offices in North London, director Ibrar Qasim went into detail. “We initially thought of water…there were no products here in the Halal sector that could inspire confidence. They were inadequate and we needed to develop a product, giving it a high profile that we could manage.” After a year of painstaking research and laboratory tests, Evoca Cola finally emerged with a traditional taste in cola using black seed extract.

The team decided on a range of soft drinks with a unique and original flavour….”We realised that Cola was by far the favourite and most popular beverage flavour in the world.” I asked him to elaborate on the flavouring, “We install 5mg per 2 litres –an optimum amount for the taste we want to generate.” I also learnt that pilot studies were conducted including an extensive tasting process involving many groups of people from all walks of life.

With regards to the name, Evoca found that products in the Halal sector don’t always take into account Muslim sensibilities. Ibrar Qasim explained, “We thought about an Islamic name but found that people were uncomfortable. There were issues of disposal and the commercial use of Islamic terms.”

The quality of the bottle is distinct and one can notice the development of a brand. This is relatively new for Halal products (although some may argue with that)when you consider the original recipe and metallic paper packaging and at 99p per 2 litre bottle, the price reflects value for money.

What about their future plans I thought, “To roll out nationwide in the next month, introducing a 500ml bottle and fruit flavours including Mango and Guava at some stage. In addition, we are experimenting with Tibb-e-Nadwi (Holistic medicine of the prophet) i.e ginger, black seed oil, honey, fenugreek seeds etc.”

In the longer term, Mr Qasim even contemplated Cordials (mixed fruits), health products and products to cater for children. Trying to introduce them presently would lead to a significant increase in research and development costs due to the unique nature of their products.

Evoca describe their motto as; ‘Respect the consumer, compete on and deliver high quality products, think of benefiting the community’. They aim to prove that as Muslims, you can work for yourself and achieve success.

Contact Details:
Asif ph. 0208 5097400
www.evoca.org