Empresa Colombiana de la Coca, a Nasa Indian cooperative in southwestern Colombia, has begun producing and selling a soft drink that uses the coca leaf as its main ingredient, Reuters reports. The drink, called Coca Sek, is being produced in the high altitude town of Calderas in the Cauca Province. This new product is intended to help build the alternative coca leaf market, thus creating a viable economic alternative to the drug trade for small local indigenous coca famers. So far the community has invested $13,000 into the project, and hopes to produce 20,000 bottles of Coca Sek per month. The coca market has been steadily increasing in both Bolivia and Columbia, and now includes products such as tea, wine, marmalade, dietary products, toothpaste, and cough syrup.
