Al-Tameem: Leading Iraq's Soft Drink Sector

'We are a young company that aims to meet consumer demand in terms of high quality products'

IN IRAQ, the multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk well represents the fast economic development and progress recently achieved in the country. Kirkuk is also the capital of the General Government of Al-Tameem, located in Northern Iraq (at around 250 km from Baghdad) in that legendary land known in the past as Mesopotamia and sits on the ancient ruins of Arrapha, the town that thousands of years ago was the battlefield of equally legendary empires, such as the Assyrian and Babylonian reigns.

The presence of the country's biggest oil field – which is also one of the most valuable ones in the world – has made the town one of Iraq's most important industrial centres today. But Kirkuk stands for much more than just oilfields. The town, whose history dates back 5,000 years, is first of all an important cultural centre, which in 2010 was elected "Iraq's cultural capital" by the Minister for Culture. Kirkuk is also the most multiethnic town in Iraq: walking through the squares in the town's historical centre, underneath the low Ottoman stone vault, there is a very heterogeneous population consisting of Kurds, Turks and Arabs.

The town is also a big industrial hub that in recent years was at the forefront of intense development in various economic sectors – including the bottled water and soft drinks markets, led by "Al Tameem Cola" and its bottler Al-Tameem Soft Drinks Co Ltd, which is a company that exemplifies the rapid expansion of Iraq's bottled water and soft drinks sector.

Bottled drinks: the rapid development of the Iraqi market

Over recent years the Iraqi bottled water market reported a real economic boom. Businesses operating in this sector that invested in high-tech machines were able to seize the many opportunities generated by new consumption trends, reporting a substantial production increase and launching new products to meet the consumer market's various needs.

Al-Tameem Soft Drinks C. Ltd was established by Ahmed Abdulwahap Saleh in 2000, and specialises in the production and marketing of fizzy drinks under the Tameem Cola, 7Up and Orange brands. In just under ten years, the business was able to build the foundations of its current success, which it achieved thanks to the entrepreneurial talent of its founder.

After setting up production in a 5000-square metre factory in just over ten years ago, the Iraqi firm gradually increased its plant's production capacity and expanded its product range.

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