Surge in Syria Syria’s soft drinks market is experiencing record growth, expected to surge 17-18% this year compared to last year’s 12% growth, and Pepsi’s market share continues to grow after just over a year of operation in the country.Syria took tentative steps last year to open up its drinks industry to foreign competition, with Pepsi and Coca-Cola taken off a blacklist and foreign mineral water imports allowed for the first time. Pepsi and Coca-Cola were blacklisted along with other US and Western firms more than 50 years ago by the Damascus-based Bureau for the Boycott of Israel, which is connected to the Arab League.Pepsi, which is franchised to Syrian drinks and industry giant Joud, launched in August of last year with an aggressive marketing campaign to overcome any possible anti-American sentiment associated with the brand. “We didn’t give it a chance to be a foreign brand. We made it
