Soft drinks have well and truly grown up. Where options might have once been limited, today a new generation of sophisticated softs geared squarely at grown-ups is giving us more choice than ever. As well as tasting the part, modern fizzy drinks also need to be healthier and better for the planet than their predecessors. After all, while globally we drink a remarkable two billion colas every day, hardly any of those drinks contain organic ingredients which support the farmers that grow them. Today’s soft drink brands must focus on tackling pressing environmental issues, including all-important plastic pollution, and demonstrate a clear understanding of the health credentials of what we’re eating and drinking. It’s something that top restaurants are aware of, with decisions over which soft drinks should make the menu now as important as those around wine and beer. If we're looking to make positive changes, then, hugely popular soft drinks seem a good place to start.

One of the brands leading the charge is Karma Drinks. Founded by brothers Chris Morrison, Matt Morrison and friend Simon Coley, their goal was to launch a drinks business that used ingredients which were not only good for the land, but also the growers and people who drank the finished products. It all began in New Zealand in 2010 with a bag of kola nuts sent from a rainforest village in Sierra Leone called Boma, but the business has since spread across the world, selling over 45 million drinks globally. Today, the organic and Fairtrade range includes its Karma Cola (as well as a sugar-free version), Gingerella Ginger Ale, Orangeade, Lemony Lemonade and Razza Raspberry Lemonade,  with its colourful cans and bottles now stocked in restaurants and cafés around London, including Hoppers, Honest Burgers, Prawn on the Lawn and LEON. Its ethos has remained at its core along the way, along with its mission of being the world’s most ethical soft drinks. 

After all, though most of us draw links between coffee and beans and wine and grapes, the association between enormously popular fizzy cola and the kola nut is not so well-established. Extracts from West African kola nuts were used in early versions of cola drinks, but today the world’s biggest brands are said to no longer use the nuts (many of the most famous recipes are closely-guarded secrets). Karma Drinks realised that the communities who originally discovered and grew the kola nuts were no longer benefiting from the vast quantities of cola that’s drunk around the world every day. Using real kola nuts, then, was one way to make sure their drinks not only tasted delicious, but were a force for good. With that in mind, Karma Drinks also created its Karma Foundation, through which it gives 1% of its revenue to villages in Sierra Leone where its kola nuts are grown. Over the last ten years, the foundation has achieved plenty to be proud of – it’s funded qualifications and salaries for school teachers, provided bursaries for over 900 children to go to school, built new classrooms, bridges and roads, financed entrepreneurs, supported farmers and ensured people in need received life-changing medical help.

Creating a business that is a force for good is a complex picture made up of everything from staff working conditions to responsible sourcing, and Karma Drinks is working hard to turn its ethos into action. It only uses plastic-free packaging, is in the top 5% of global B-Corp brands (a mark of socially and environmentally conscious businesses) and a Fairtrade social enterprise, and has also been certified organic by The Soil Association. This recognises its mindful approach to its ingredients, from its Mexican oranges to Sicilian lemons. Its passion for, and continued investment in, its Sierra Leonean heritage was cemented further in November when it started working with chef and author Maria Bradford. Born and raised in the country’s Freetown, Maria now brings her native cuisine to England, and has been busy working on recipes (you can see some of her brilliant recipes here) and pairings with Karma Drinks, which are rooted in their shared love for Sierra Leonean ingredients.