About

ColaLife is working in developing countries to bring Coca-Cola, its bottlers and others together to open up Coca-Cola’s distribution channels to carry ‘social products’ such as oral rehydration salts and zinc supplements to save children’s lives.

You can buy a Coca-Cola virtually anywhere in developing countries but in these same places up to 1 in 5 children die before their 5th birthday from simple preventable causes like dehydration from diarrhoea.

ColaLife started as an online ‘movement’ in April 2008. We have more than 10,000 online supporters and these have given us the power to engage Coca-Cola, UNICEF and other key stakeholders. We are now focussing on getting a trial of the ColaLife concept underway in Zambia. >> Become a supporter

ColaLife is an independent non-profit organisation run and staffed by volunteers. Whilst ColaLife seeks to work with corporates to bring about social change we are not affiliated to any other organisation and our work with others does not imply an endorsement of any product or brand. We became a registered charity on 21 June 2011. Our charity number is 1142516. Our Memorandum is here (PDF 586 KB).

A statement of support from Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP

Image drawn from the Daily Telegraph

The Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP was the UK’s Secretary of State for International Development from 2003-2007 and has provided this public statement of support:

“ColaLife is a really imaginative, practical and worthwhile project which aims to help save people’s lives. I wish the trial every success and I hope you get all the support you deserve.”
Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP

Who we are

Our Virtual Advisory Board

Professor Don Nutbeam	Dr. Ian Goldman	Professor Prashant Yadav	Dr Phillip Lee MP	>>more

Our trustees
Our trustees are:

• Andy Chapman
• Jane Berry
• Joanna Knowles
• Rob Ellis
• Simon Berry

Our team

Simon Berry	Jane Berry	Rohit Ramchandani	>> more

Our supporters

Allen & Overy LLP are providing pro bono legal advice. Furthermore we have more than 15,000 supporters online >> more

Other interesting ColaLife links:

• Our Aims and Objectives
• ColaLife FAQ
• Possible scenarios how the ColaLife concept could be implemented
• Learn more about the Aidpod

Learn more about the idea of ColaLife and what has happened since 2008.

• The three facts of ColaLife
• ColaLife in 100 words
• A short history of ColaLife
• The idea in 30 seconds
• The Aidpod concept
• The principle of local determination
• Simon Berry on the BBC’s iPM Programme
• Simon Berry presents ColaLife at Canvas8

The ColaLife movement is based on three facts:

1. You can buy a Coca-Cola almost anywhere you go in the world, even in the most remote parts of developing countries
2. In these same places 1 in 5 children die before their fifth birthday from preventable causes. Most die from dehydration from diarrhoea.
3. The child mortality figures have not changed significantly for at least 3 decades which would indicate that current initiatives are not working

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ColaLife in 100 words
You can buy a Coca-Cola virtually anywhere in developing countries but in these same places 1 in 5 children die before their 5th birthday from simple, preventable causes like dehydration from diarrhoea.

ColaLife, an independent non-profit, is working with Coca-Cola to open their distribution channels in developing countries to carry ‘social products’ – oral rehydration salts, high-dose vitamin A, water purification tablets – to save children’s lives.

Using our ‘AidPod’, designed to fit between bottles in crates, local agencies can ‘piggy-back’ on established supply chains, offering real, affordable ‘last mile’ reach, SMS tracking, impactful CSR opportunities, and improved carbon footprints
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A short history of ColaLife
ColaLife is talking to Coca-Cola about opening up its distribution channels in developing countries to save lives, especially children’s lives, by carrying much needed ‘social products’ such as oral rehydration salts and high-dose vitamin A tablets. For the latest on the campaign, please visit the blog. ColaLife is an independent and purely voluntary movement backed by thousands of supporters form across the world. Many have joined the ColaLife Facebook Page and Facebook Group.

Empty shelves at Tiriri health centre in Katine, Uganda. Photograph: Guardian/Martin Godwin
A fully stocked retail outlet. Photograph: Simon Berry

These supporters include experts in public health, emerging markets in developing countries, logistics experts and people working on the frontline in developing countries on maternal and child health. We are in the process of establishing a virtual advisory board and our first member is Don Nutbeam who is Professor of Public Health (and Vice Chancellor) at Southampton University.

ColaLife was launched by Simon Berry, who had the idea while working on the British Aid programme in 1988. However, no real progress was made until Simon floated the idea on his blog in May 2008, he has managed to create a huge community around the campaign, through a Facebook and appearances on Radio 4′s iPM programme. He is now in discussions with Coca-Cola. He has also brokered a partnership between the international NGO, AED and Coca-Cola to trial the ideas behind ColaLife.

The latest progress reports are here.

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The idea in 30 seconds
This 30 second video was produced on 19 October 2008 to support our submission to Google’s Project 10^100 initiative:

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The Aidpod concept
Since May 2008 the original idea has been developed further and is now focussed on the ‘aidpod’ concept – a wedge-shaped pod that fits in the unused space between the necks of the bottles in a Coca-Cola crate. Here is a video describing Mark III of the aidpod design.

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At the heart of ColaLife is the principle of local determination. ColaLife must be implemented in a way with empowers and strengthens the local public health infrastructure.

This is explained in more detail here. Our key principles are here.

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Simon Berry on the BBC’s iPM Programme
On 25/4/08 Coca-Cola committed to ‘trial the ideas behind Colalife’ on the BBC’s iPM Programme. To hear the essential commitment made in the interview click on the play button below:

Coca-Cola’s commitment to ColaLife | 25 04 2009 | EXTRACT by colalife

This is the full 25/4/09 interview:

Coca-Cola’s commitment to ColaLife | 25 04 2009 | FULL INTERVIEW by colalife

Subsequent to this interview, Coca-Cola has started to work with the Government of Tanzania training those involved in the distribution of drugs and so it was suggested that we look elsewhere to undertake the ColaLife pilot. In the summer of 2010 we researched alternative countries for the pilot and chose Zambia. We are currently working with local partners, including the bottler of Coca-Cola in Zambia, SABMiller, on the pilot plan. When the plan is complete we will take it funders.

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Simon Berry presents ColaLife at Canvas8

Simon Berry presents ColaLife @ Canvas8 from Canvas8 on Vimeo.

The campaign has made so much progress that we are now moving into implementation mode. Our next steps are described here.

If you would like to help ColaLife please do get involved.

>> Our full aims and objectives

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Last updated: 25/6/11