Source: Ukhamawa
Translation: Euroidiomas, Lima - Perú

The Nasa businessman Davis Curtidor reported to AP: "The people who take part in this project are the indigenous reserve of Calderas… we have been committed for six years to reestablish the good name of the coca leaf, as a plant with great medicinal and nutritional properties".

First the natives commercialized a coca leaf-based infusion which is offered in several supermarkets of the country. One year and a half ago they started to chill the drink and add the necessary ingredients to sell it as a bottled drink.

The experiment succeeded when they obtained a formula "that can preserve the drink for a period of five months without altering its taste", according to the interviewee.

The chilled coca leaf infusion "was added gas and other ingredients, resulting in a natural drink, extracted from a leaf, with gas, and very delicious. We have made hundreds of tests and people like it very much", he explained.

Samples of the drink in transparent glass bottles that enable to see the yellowish drink bottled under the brand of "Coca Sek" are exhibited at a Handicraft Fair in Bogotá. In few days the drink will be ready to jump to the shelves and be offered to the consumers. 

The Spanish brand name 'Coca del Sol' will be in white letters on a blue label bordered with a bright green band. 

The product was launched to the market on December 16th and is expected to be first sold in El Cauca and El Valle regions, in the south part of Colombia. Then, as the prestige of the coca improves, it will be gradually distributed in Bogotá. According to Curtidor, this product is also a kind of political declaration as Colombian natives refuse to drink Coca-Cola.

Curtidor said that in Calderas "people started a campaign refusing to consume or buy Coca-Cola. Now, we are offering an alternative drink."

This boycott against the North American soda is because it represents an imperial domination; this is the product of a transnational company that does not even buy its raw material in Colombia." We tried to obtain some comments from the Coca-Cola in Colombia but it was not possible then.

Curtidor admitted that his drink is at a disadvantage not being able to be exported because of the current international restriction to any product containing coca. Although small quantities could be sold in Canada, France and the United States, he does not believe that sales on a large scale will be possible. 

This has not restrained the inventiveness of the Nasa people who, in an effort to restore the name and usage of the coca, have developed other coca-based products such as wine, cookies, and dehydrated fruit. But the most original experiments are the elaboration of soap and tooth paste with coca.

"We have a very big market to conquer and people are going to prefer us for the delicious flavor and for solidarity", the indigenous business man said. 

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