A West London-based entrepreneur has taken the soft drink market by storm, creating a Coca Cola competitor right from her kitchen and selling nearly two billion cans across the globe in just 18 months. Aykiz Shah, at the age of 27, launched Salaam Cola back in October 2023 with no initial capital investment, spending only £160 on sample cans to kickstart her venture.
By 2024, this enterprising mum had already achieved a staggering turnover of €6 million in Europe, including £1.6 million from UK sales alone, with her 66p cans and bottles retailing for £1.
Using her background in recipe development for a beverage company, Ms Shah crafted the unique formula herself and secured a manufacturer in Turkey. Ms Shah is committed to health-conscious production, stating: "I wouldn't put in something that would damage peoples health."
The Brentford-based mother-of-three successfully pitched her idea to UK distributors, finding four who were ready to pay upfront for the initial production run. Utilising social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, she promoted Salaam Cola's brand ethos and its charitable goals to support displaced and injured Palestinians.
Salaam - a common greeting in Muslim countries - quickly found its way onto the shelves of grocery stores, fast food outlets, and retailers selling international foods throughout the UK.
Now an international sensation, Salaam Cola boasts over 1.9 billion cans sold in 16 countries across four continents, offering several distinct recipes. Perhaps key to Salaam's success is the fact that the company donates 10 per cent of all proceeds to good causes. So far, Salaam Cola has had impressive results, with £250,000 contributed to charity from UK sales alone in 2024.
Aykiz attributes the company's remarkable growth to its commitment to charity work. She said: "We wanted to create more of an ethical drink for people who are going through poverty or malnutrition to be able to give back and help vulnerable people. It sent a powerful image to our consumers as we are partnered with 'Muslims in Need' a registered charity."
She continued: "Every month we calculate the proceeds that need to go to the projects and we transfer them the money. But it's not just the money, we actively work with the charity too, to do things like open schools for Palestinian children who were displaced to Egypt."
According to Aykiz, consumers increasingly seek out companies that uphold strong moral and social responsibilities. She observed: "I do think that a lot of people were looking for ethical companies because of the BDS [Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions] movement against Israel and the ICE situation with Coca Cola in the US with immigrant workers – there's been a lot of problems with the legacy companies."
Aykiz added: "Giving back is in our DNA as Muslims and my clients who work with us give back an extra 10 per cent on top of that, which is really making a difference. Every month we provide a video on social media to show where the profits are going and for a lot of people they don't feel guilty for buying a can which backs causes that they believe in – it's a no brainer for a nice drink and the charity work we do. And that's why I think Salaam Cola has become a movement and a household name."
Aykiz shared that the success of the company has had a profound impact on her life. She said: "For me personally, it's turned my life upside down - people work years and years to establish things that Salaam has managed to do in such a short space of time."
Despite the growth of the business, including hiring a second UK-based employee in August 2024, Aykiz continues to run operations from her home kitchen island. She's currently overseeing the development of new fizzy pop flavours, each representing and supporting a different country.
Salaam Cola was initially created to support Palestine, with its diet variant, 'Seriously No Sugar', raising funds for Syria. The company has since developed 'Yemonade' to aid malnourished children in need of medical assistance and food.
The latest addition to their line-up is 'Lebanorange', set to launch in the coming weeks, designed to support Lebanon.
Aykiz expressed surprise at the diverse support her product has received, including from Coronation Street actor Sean Ward. She admitted: "I initially thought it would be a predominantly Muslim-backed product but really everyone's on board. We have distributors which are businesses that are run by Muslims, but equally we have lots of non-Muslim supporters who believe in the message too."
She continued: When you step back, you see that there's actually a lot of love in the world, despite all the negativity. We have been able to provide 10,000 Palestinians medical aid - we did that primarily for children in Al-Nasr hospital in Egypt who were victims of severe burns."
The charity's reach extends beyond Palestine, with initiatives in Syria and Yemen as well. Aykiz elaborated: "In Syria, we sponsor orphans through school and we are rebuilding a mosque that was bombed. And we have a community kitchen in Yemen which provides food for families because there is such a problem with malnutrition - I believe it is the highest amount of poverty in the world."
Salaam has even caught the attention of celebrities, with actor Sean Ward being a vocal supporter. Aykiz mentioned: "We've even had celebrity backers, such as Sean Ward, who has been a massive supporter of our work, and volunteers regularly to overlook and visit the Salaam charity projects."
Despite the success, Aykiz remains humble and grateful to the companies that initially backed her product. She recalled: "We originally sold the product to four distributors across the UK, in Lancashire, the Midlands, London and Glasgow. They prepaid for a full container of Saalam and bought the stock to resell."
With only four initial buyers, the business was still in a precarious position, but fortunately, it took off immediately. Aykiz marvelled: "I was lucky – four buyers was still a relatively low number of backers, and the business all depended on how it went with them, but it's crazy that it took off straight away."
Aykiz is pushing boundaries as a woman in the beverages sector, unapologetically embracing her burqa and veil in a male-dominated trade. Aykiz remarked: "I do think the drinks industry is a very cut throat industry for everyone, but for women it's just a touch harder. I'm a very conservative Muslim and I dress very modestly. That's another stereotype that we're breaking. But people love the product and I think they like working with me which is nice because I'm not judged by my appearance."
Aykiz added: "I want to inspire and empower women to achieve for themselves, no matter the limitations and how they look."
Juggling motherhood and business, Aykiz is thankful for the unwavering support of her husband, Mohammad, aged 36, as she navigates her busy schedule.
Aykiz reflected: "I have to remind myself to not let the stress catch up to me, that life's too short for it. The meetings with Canada and the US can be in the middle of the night – at the start I was sleeping about two or three hours a day because it went viral straight away. I was living on coffees. I didn't know what I was doing, every day was a learning curve and I was making it up as I went along. I don't know how I did it or how it happened – I guess it's God's plan."
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