OVER the last year, Israeli bombardment of Gaza has claimed the lives of more than 41,000 civilians. It has now been a year since the October 7 attacks, which reignited the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement, although its roots run much deeper.

The BDS movement is nomore a new phenomenon than Israeli atrocities in Palestine. Boycott of brands linked with Israel or the US`s support for Israel is over two decades old.

In the 2000s, some US companies reported a drop in sales of between 25 per cent and 40pc, according to a report by The Guardian. The targets were the usual suspects McDonalds, Burger King, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, among others. Back then, student protesters in Egypt torched a KFC outlet and another outlet in Lebanon wasbombed.

Then too, local cola manufacturers prospered in various countries. Back in 2003, factories in Iran making Zam Zam Cola struggled to keep up with demand. Inthe UAE, sales of the local Star Cola soared. Over the last year in Pakistan, the carbonated beveragesindustry has seen the most traction on the ground among domestic alternatives for boycotted products.

Boycott and Cola wars `Earlier, about 90pc of the market share in restaurants belonged to Coca-Cola and Pepsi. But now the lion`s share is with the local brands, possibly more than 90pc,` says Salman Aleem,Secretary General of All Pakistan Restaurant Association.

Admitting there are still supply chain issues, nevertheless, he says customers demand local cola brands and eateries all over the country have complied with their requests. Other than Cola Next and Pakola, Quice has also increased its market share, he says. Local brands are increasing capacity to comply with rising demand, he adds.

Buthasthe share oflocal companies truly increased? Has the boycott impacted the parent company? Local producers have kept mum about the increase in market share or investments in capacity. A Reuters report quotes Krave Mart founderKassim Shroff, saying that local Cola rivals have increased in popularity, becoming about 12pc of the soft drinks category from 2.5pc earlier.

However, the boycott of Pepsi and Coca-Cola products as American-origin product s is sele ctive. Beyond carbonated beverages, Pepsico also owns Aquafina, Cheetos, Doritos, Kurkure and Lay`s, which have not come under fire as much.

Euromonitor data indicates that 2023 was the first year since 2009 that the sales of carbonated beverages dipped instead of increasing. Off-trade volume (sales of beverages not immediately consumed on premises such as in the case of restaurants) fell by 3.7pcin 2023 because of consumers feeling the financial pinch.

Coca-Cola in Pakistan comes under Turkish CocaCola Içecek A.S. Its halfyear report states that Pakistan posted better volumes in the second quarter ofthe yearthanin the previous four quarters. That is not to say Coca-Cola`s volumes in Pakistan are growing, but the decrease in volume is slowing. In the second quarter, sales volume was down by 5pc compared to the 23pc decline year-onyear in the first quarter of the year.

The company attributes this partly to a better macroeconomic environment, though it is possible that sales are improving as the support of the BDS movement wanes. Coca-Cola and Pepsi had a combined market share of over 80pc in 2023, according to Euromonitor. Lahore-based Gourmet Foods, which mainly distributes in smaller cities, was the largest local player with a 1.7pc market share, followed by the 0.5pc share of Mezan Beverages, which owns Cola Next. Given the disparity in market share, increasing capacity at a level to compete with the beverage giants is not the work of a year.

Fast food franchises Among fast food chains, the heat seems to have mostly fallen on McDonald`s, followed by KFC in Pakistan. Globally, McDonald`s has been impacted, with its 2023 annual report stating that the fast food chain expects the impact to last as long as the war.

According to an October X post, McDonald`s Israel had given 100,000 free meals to Israeli forces worth 5 million shekels ($1.3 million).

The Chicago-based McDonald`s Corporation distanced itself from the move. It also bought back all of its Israeli restaurants after global sales slumped due to a boycottofthebrand.

In Malaysia, the local franchise (owned by Saudi firm Lonhorn Pte Ltd), sued the Malaysia BDS group for $1.3m, citing `false and defamatory statements` that it said had hurt its business. This prompted the Palestinian BDS National Committee, the largest Palestinian coalition that leads the global BDS movement, to endorse the worldwide boycott campaigns targeting McDonald`s.

Thus, McDonald`s has been among those most affected.

The fast-food giant uses a franchise system, which means individual operators are licensed to run outlets and employ staff. This system applies to Pakistan, where it is owned and operated by a local company, SIZA Foods, which belongs to the Lakhani group.

KFC has also found its way to boycott lists. KFC and Pizza Hut internationally are owned by YUM! brands which has invested in Israeli-based startups. Globally, KFC is among those brands that have been hit the hardest, with 108 of its 600 outlets closing down in Malaysia earlier this year.

In Pakistan, the KFC franchise is owned by the Cupola group and Pizza Hut is by the conglomerate Maaks International, which also owns Burger King. KFC has over 128 outlets and employs about 9,000 people (including riders). The Cupola group educates 7,000 impoverished Pakistani students annually and has been for about a decade while also employing the deaf.

LocalbrandslikeKababjeeshave arguably expanded in the space created. However, sources say that the growth rate of restaurants has been affected more by macroeconomic conditions than by the BDS movement.

Embedded products Products with direct or indirect ties to Israel are embedded in our day-to-day lives. Much of this article was written with the help of the search engine Google Google and Amazon signed Project Nimbus in 2021, which aims to provide cloud computing infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology services to the Israeli government and its military.

Microsoft Word was used to type this article using a Hewlett-Packard laptop powered by Intel. Intel, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard are among the many tech companies that have research and development facilities in Israel.

Indeed, the traction of the BDS movement is through social media, largely routed through Meta apps such as Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook. Meta has been repeatedly accused of censorship, be it curtailing content critical of Israel or stifling pro-Palestine voices.

The BDS movement is a complex dilemma where boycotting can result in a disadvantage,be it through lost work opportunities through Israeli company Fiverr or be it through the impact of MNCs in Pakistan, which provide employment and are among the largest tax contributors to the economy. In many cases, Pakistan`s share of sales is less than a rounding error and has no impact on the actions of Israel or its allies.

A detailed version of this article can be accessed on Dawn.com