Feel-Good Soda, Finally: How Two Founders Are Rewriting the Rules of Gut Health in the Region
Somewhere between the sugary soda nobody needed and the health drink nobody actually enjoyed, Karim Jalloul and Walid Antabli saw a gap, and decided to fill it themselves. The result is HalaPop, the first prebiotic soda built in and for the Middle East, delivering 6g of plant-based fiber, zero added sugar, and just 29 calories in a can that tastes like nostalgia, not a compromise. But this isn't a story about importing a Western wellness trend and slapping on local flavors. It's about four plant-based fibers, including regional superfoods like baobab and moringa, chosen with intention. It's about dozens of formulation attempts refined until they tasted like joy instead of medicine. And it's about building an entire supply chain, regulatory pathway, and manufacturing process from the ground up in Dubai, because nothing like it existed here before. We sat down with Karim and Walid to talk about the frustration that started it all, why soda, of all things, was the right vehicle for a gut health message, and what it really takes to build a category from scratch in a region that's ready for it.
