French Terroir Colas

The 2000s and 2010s saw a remarkable wave of French colas popping up. It seems as if every region in the country needed to have its own cola. The movement became known by terms such as alter-cola, cola alternatif, and, more recently, terroir cola.

This list focuses on French colas whose identity is closely tied to a local area or region. Some incorporate regional ingredients, others draw on local history or traditions, while many simply celebrate the place where they are made. The earliest example dates from 1998, and new terroir colas continue to appear, with the latest launch taking place in 2026.

The French alter-cola movement also produced brands with a different identity. Rather than celebrating a specific region, Mecca-Cola (2002), Muslim Up Cola (2003), and Arab Cola (2003-2011) were created around political and cultural causes, while Beuk Cola (2002-2008) promoted Fairtrade. Although often grouped under the alter-cola label, these brands fall outside the scope of this list.

Gallery

1998

• Colt Cola was one of the earliest locally branded alternatives to mainstream colas such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, as well as generic white-label brands. It was introduced in 1998 by Brasserie d’Olt, based in Aveyron in southern France, and its name is a wordplay combining cola with Olt, the local Occitan name of the Lot River.

2002

• Breizh Cola is produced by Brasserie Lancelot in Brittany (Bretagne) and is widely regarded as the brand that kick-started France’s altercola wave. Its name, Breizh, is the Breton word for “Brittany.”

• Cat Cola was introduced in 2002 by Brasserie Milles, a small family-run company founded in 1928. The company is based in Toulouges (not Toulouse), in Northern Catalonia near the Spanish border. In the 1950s it became the first company to bottle Coca-Cola in post-war France. When Coca-Cola established its own bottling operations in Southern France during the 1990s, Brasserie Milles instead began bottling for PepsiCo. Cat Cola formed part of the company’s “Cat” range of soft drinks. The last known Facebook post mentioning the brand dates from autumn 2015, and it appears to have disappeared shortly afterwards.

2003

• Corsica Cola was launched in May 2003 by Brasserie Pietra, a Corsican brewery that began looking for new ways to secure its investments and protect local jobs. Its slogan, “Maure de Soif!”, is a playful pun combining Corsica’s Moor’s-head emblem (Maure) with mort de soif (“dying of thirst”). Despite its strong Corsican branding, the cola — like several other French altercolas — is being produced in northwestern France by L’Abeille in Cholet. Corsica Cola was discontinued in autumn 2018.

2004

• Chtilà Cola was launched in 2004 by Chtilà (later NPDC Boissons) and takes its name from Ch’ti, the Picard dialect spoken in the département du Nord near the Belgian border. Created as a lighthearted tribute to local language and culture, the brand was briefly rebranded as Ch’nord Cola from 2008 to 2009. It also won a packaging award in 2005 for its distinctive triangular six-pack. The cola appears to have been discontinued around 2014.

• EHKA Cola is an outlier on this list. Its branding combined elements of a Basque contribution to the landscape of terroir colas with a clear counterpoint to “American” consumerism. It was introduced in 2004 by the Alterka cooperative in Iparralde, on the French side of the Basque Country. Production took place in Navarra on the Spanish side of the border, and the colas was sweetened with fairtrade cane sugar from Costa Rica. It appears to have faded out around 2015.

• Elsass Cola is produced by Sources de Soultzmatt in Alsace and is sweetened with locally made Erstein sugar, a French household brand. It was introduced in 2004. Alsace’s culture reflects centuries of alternating German and French rule, resulting in a distinctive blend of both traditions. In the local Alsatian dialect, the region is called Elsàss.

2005

• Fada Cola is a locally distributed cola from Marseille and is produced by Midi et Demi. Its name, fada, is the Marseille variant of the French word fou, meaning “mad” or “crazy.” The brand leans heavily into local pride with the catchphrase “Qui ne boit pas Fada ne vient pas de Marseille!” — “If you don’t drink Fada, you’re not from Marseille.” It’s a playful nod to the city’s strong sense of identity and the affection Marseillais have for their hometown.

2008

• The first Vendée Cola was launched on 31 October 2008 by the start-up Ouest Market in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, who would become a serial developer of regional terroir colas across western France. Production was carried out nearby at L’Abeille in Cholet. The cola remained available for several years and was still on shelves in mid-2014. Although some sources claim Vendée Cola persisted until 2019, the brand’s trademark expired in 2018 and its social-media activity ended in early 2017, suggesting that the original Vendée Cola had effectively ceased operations well before that.
  Ouest Market later launched Anjou Cola (2010-2015), Poitou Cola (2010-2019), and Loire Cola (2015-2016).

2009

• Auvergnat Cola was introduced in 2009 by Julhes which was acquired by Audebert Boissons in March 2011. The defining ingredient in Auvergnat Cola is gentian, a bitter alpine plant long associated with the Auvergne region and its traditional aperitifs.

• Bougnat Cola was the second Auvergne cola introduced in 2009. It was launched by Audebert Boissons, which had already secured the rights to the Bougnat brand in 2004. The name refers to the auvergnats, particularly those who migrated to Paris to work in cafés and the restaurant trade in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Bougnat Cola was also defined by its use of bitter gentian, and, according to some critics, had an even more pronounced gentian flavour than its direct competitor. When Audebert Boissons acquired Auvergnat Cola in 2011, it continued producing soft drinks under the Auvergnat brand, while Bougnat Cola was retired and the Bougnat name instead used for a range of beers.

• Cola’rdeche was playfully named after the Ardèche region, where it was produced by Brasserie Bourganel. The use of chestnut extract gave it a distinct local character, however, it was produced by L’Abeille in Cholet in Northern France like many other terroir colas. It was launched in 2009 and retired in 2020.

2010

• Anjou Cola was launched around March 2010 in the Anjou region of northern France, bordering Brittany, and featured chamomile sourced from the Chemillé area. Like many French altercolas, it was bottled by L’Abeille in Cholet. The brand was discontinued in 2015 due to strong competition from the Breton altercolas, leading its creators at Ouest Market to shift their focus to launching Loire Cola instead.

• Colà Occitan was launched on 15 March 2010 by Brasserie d’Oc in Mèze, in the Occitanie region. It is unclear exactly when the cola was discontinued, but the brewery ceased operations in 2017.

• Meuh Cola was launched in April 2010 by LiMeuhnaderie Solibulles in Granville, Normandy. Created as a playful celebration of local identity, the brand uses the Norman cow as its mascot and incorporates regional humour, including a cow speaking in a Normandy patois on the labels. Founder Sébastien Bellétoile positioned the drink as a socially minded, small-scale alternative, using organic ingredients and fair-trade sugar sourced through a partner cooperative. This blend of local pride, self-deprecating Norman humour and a commitment to small producers gives Meuh Cola its distinctly Norman character.

• Alp’Cola was launched on 10 May 2010 by Brasserie du Mont Blanc in Chambéry in the French Alps and appears to have been discontinued in the spring of 2011. Its name reflects its Alpine origin, and the cola was promoted as an “authentic” recipe made with a subtle blend of Alpine plants, giving it a gentle, distinctive character tied directly to its mountain roots.

• Montania Cola was introduced on 18 May 2010 by Routin, also from Chambéry where Alp’Cola had been launched a week earlier. Routin is best known for developing soft drink syrups, and Montania Cola was deliberately formulated to imitate the flavor of Coca-Cola; according to the company, nine out of ten blind-tasting participants could not tell the difference. Its regional touch came from the addition of génépi, a collective term for Alpine herbs typical of the region. The label featured a white cross on a red background inspired by the Savoie flag (not to be confused with the Swiss cross). Like several other altercolas, Montania Cola was produced by L’Abeille in Cholet. Montania Cola was still around in early 2015 and seems to have been discontinued shortly after.

• Alpen-Cola aka Alpa-Cola has ben produced since 2010 by Brasserie L&L Alphand, located in Vallouise in the French Alpes. The drink is made with Alpine spring water and natural aromas. L&L Alphand’s focus is its range of beers, but also produces a cola and a lemonade.

• Beauce Cola was created in 2010 by Stanislas Savouré and his sister, whose family company Maison Savouré in Eure-et-Loir has produced lemonade and soft drinks since 1888. The name refers to La Beauce, the grain-growing plain that defines the region, echoed in the logo through an ear of wheat. The cola marked the family’s first venture into regional soda, and in 2021 the company went on to relaunch Vendée Cola.

• Poitou Cola was introduced in 2010 in western France and developed by Ouest Market, a serial developer of regional terroir colas across western France. It was discontinued in April 2019. The cola’s regional signature came from angelica, a plant commercially grown in the Poitou area and traditionally used as a flavoring in various liqueurs. Its logo featured a donkey chewing on an angelica stem — a nod to the Baudet du Poitou, the historic donkey breed native to the region.

• Cola by Tarn launched in October 2010 by Thierry Cabanis

2011

• Provença Cola was introduced in 2011 by the Avignon-based company Distribution Boissons Service (later renamed Rossi Boissons) and, like many terroir colas of its era, produced at L’Abeille in Cholet. Marketed with the slogan “the cola the cicadas were waiting for,” the brand leaned heavily into southern imagery and the soundscape of Provence. A light version appeared in 2013, but the project remained short-lived and was discontinued in 2017.

• Britt Cola was launched on 4 June 2011 by Brasserie de Bretagne in the region where the altercola wave began with Breizh Cola in 2002. Because of this shared origin, the brewery stressed that Britt Cola was not meant as an attack on its well-known neighbor but offered a different approach. Whereas Breizh positioned itself as a counterpoint to the American giants, Britt chose to highlight positive American ideals such as freedom and wide-open spaces. Its slogan, “Le rêve Armoricain” (literally “The Armorican Dream”) is a wordplay on the American Dream, with Armoricain referring to Armorica, the ancient name for Brittany.

• Père Defrance Cola was launched in June 2011 by Deco Jus in Saint-Yrieix, a town situated on the border between the regions Limousin and Dordogne. Positioned as a Limousin cola, it competed directly with Limouzi Cola for the regional market. This rivalry likely contributed to a strategic repositioning a few years later.
  In November 2014 the brand was reborn as Dordogne Cola, marketed as “le cola du pays du foie gras” (the cola from the land of foie gras). With the relaunch, the original Limousin cow on the label was replaced by geese and ducks — straightforward visual cues linking the drink to Dordogne’s well-known culinary landscape.

• Limouzi Cola was launched on 20 September 2011 in the Limousin region and is flavored with pomme châtaigne, reflecting the area’s historic tradition of apple-and-chestnut desserts. It is produced by LGM Production in Limoges, a company better known for its identity-branded products released under the CRIL label. CRIL (Communauté révolutionnaire indépendante limousine) is a cultural movement that promotes local Limousin identity and regional heritage.

• La Loère Cola is produced by La Loère in the Loire Valley and has been on the market since 2011. The brand was founded by restaurateur Christophe Germain and later developed further by Cyril Langlois, who envisioned a local, natural alternative to industrial sodas. La Loère Cola is made with ingredients mostly sourced from the Loire Valley, and is marketed under the slogan “La Loire in a bottle.”

2012

• ParisgoCola was a short-lived Parisian craft cola, launched in 2012. Created after its founder noticed the absence of a Parisian cola, the project brought together professionals from the beverage, advertising, and finance sectors under the slogan “the spirit of Paris in a bottle.” Sold mainly in traditional grocery shops in Paris and the surrounding region, the brand eventually ceased production in 2014 after a failed crowdfunding effort left the company without sufficient capital.

• Berry Cola originated from L’Atelier de la Bière in Bourges, founded by Franck Bellon, who added the cola to his range of craft beers in 2012. Its name refers to the historic Berry region and its inhabitants, the berrichons, highlighting the drink’s local identity. In the summer of 2020, Bellon sold the Berry brand to the Marseille-based SAFA Distribution, a company that manufactures and distributes a wide range of beverages. Berry Cola was joined by Berry Cola Zero in 2021.

2013

• Paris Cola became the second Parisian cola within a year. It was introduced in the spring of 2013 by La Limonaderie de Paris, who makes a full range of soft drinks. The company is located in the Parisian suburb Nanterre. Kenneth has it

• Lorraine Cola is produced by the craft brewery Les Brasseurs de Lorraine. It was introduced in spring of 2013 as Lora Cola but was quickly rebranded as Lorraine Cola. The name refers to the historical region of Lorraine in Northeastern France. More about Lorraine Cola and Vosges Cola in this blogpost.

• Vexin Cola Produced since 2013 by Ferme Brasserie du Vexin in Théméricourt, just northwest of Paris. The name refers to the historical county of Vexin, where the brewery is located.

• Jura Cola is known to have been in production by 2013, although its exact origin remains unclear. It is produced by La Rouget de Lisle in the Jura Mountains of eastern France. A sugar-free variant was introduced in November 2025. The brewery maintains a diverse portfolio, producing a wide range of beers as well as spirits including whisky, vodka, and gin.

2014

• Bapla Cola is an organic craft cola from Brasserie Oxit in Beauvais-sur-Tescou (Tarn), southern France. It was introduced in 2014 as part of the brewery’s Bapla soft-drink range.

• Liger Cola was launched in July 2014 by Loire Valley Distribution, headquartered in Tours. Conceived as “the cola of the wild Loire,” it was intended for both the Centre and Pays de la Loire regions, with a name drawn from the ancient Gaulish word for the Loire River. Production was outsourced to L’Abeille in Cholet.
  In February 2018 it was rebranded as Loire Cola (2) — a move made possible because another cola of the same name, produced since 2015, had just ceased production. The rebranded version remained short-lived and was eventually discontinued in 2022.

• Sowest Cola was introduced in July 2014 by Ogeu Groupe, which branded it as the cola of the Pyrenees. The company has bottled water in the Pyrenees since 1820, and this mountain water served as the defining ingredient in the cola. However, its branding was firmly rooted in the surf culture of the Atlantic coast of southwestern France, particularly along the Landes and Basque coastline, and even involved partnerships with professional surfers. The cola was discontinued in 2018 due to poor sales performance.

• Dordogne Cola was launched in November 2014 as a relaunch of Père Defrance Cola (2011-2014), shifting the brand’s focus from Limousin to the neighboring Dordogne region. The change was likely driven by direct competition with Limouzi Cola for the Limousin market.

• Vosges Cola came in 2014 and is produced by Les Brasseurs de Lorraine who also makes Lorraine Cola. The name is a reference to the Vosges mountains which made up the southern border of the Lorraine region. More about Lorraine Cola and Vosges Cola in this blogpost.

2015

• Séquère cola was introduced in February 2015 by the brothers Gilles and Stéphane Bourdillas, who in 2010 had founded the craft brewery La Séquère in the Landes department of southwestern France. In 2017, the brewery moved to larger premises, allowing it to expand its portfolio of beers and soft drinks. Around the same time, Séquère Cola was rebranded as Landes Cola, possibly to give it broader appeal. Landes is known for its vast pine forests, which form the basis for the regions’ timber and resin industries. Pine is used in the cola to give it a distinct Landes flavour.

• Eauskola was launched in 2015 and takes its name from a contraction of “Euskal Herriko Kola,” which means “the cola of the Basque Country” in Basque. It is bottled in Ayherre on the French side of the Basque Country. More about Euskola in this blogpost.

• Yaute Cola has been produced by Brasseurs Savoyards since 2015 as part of the brewery’s wide range of sodas. It was originally sold in glass bottles and received a refreshed design in 2025, after which the brand placed greater emphasis on cans. Yaute Cola presents itself simply as a local Savoyard cola and uses the playful slogan “c’est bon pour c’que t’as!” — literally “it’s good for what you’ve got,” a jovial local way of saying the cola is perfectly suited to you or to whatever purpose you have.

• Gavach Cola was added to the Pétillo soft drink range in 2015 by Olivier Ortiz in Carcassonne, Occitanie. Ortiz began producing handcrafted lemonades in 2014 before expanding the range with a cola made from locally sourced ingredients. Named after the Occitan dialect word gavach, the cola was launched as an outsider ready to challenge the American cola giants while emphasizing its regional identity. In the summer of 2023, the company’s soft drinks received a new visual identity, and Gavach Cola became part of the Pétillo range. The cola continued to be featured by retailers on social media in 2024, but its status after that date is unknown.

• Touraine Cola was launched in May 2015 by Ouest Market, which was already behind at least three other colas in the same area. Touraine Cola is known to have reached production, but the project was short-lived. The last social media posts appeared on 14 June 2015; the following day Ouest Market introduced Loire Cola (1). It remains unclear whether Loire Cola was a relaunch of Touraine Cola or a separate project. Around the same time, Ouest Market had abandoned Anjou Cola (2010–2015). The company may have realised that both Touraine and Anjou had limited geographical appeal and instead opted for a cola named after France’s longest river. Loire Cola itself was discontinued after about a year. In 2018, the company Loire Valley Distribution seized the opportunity to rebrand its Liger Cola as Loire Cola (2).

• Oléron Cola is produced by La Bullerie d’Oléron on the island of Oléron, located off the west coast of France. Launched in 2015, the craft soda is made by Stéphane Lemieux as a one-man operation, which he has been running since 2012.

2017

• Oréa Cola was launched in 2017 by the brewery Bières de Ré, founded in 1996 and located on Isle of Ré off France’s Atlantic coast.

• Carca-Cola was launched in August 2017 by Brasseurs de la Cité in Carcassonne. The brewery was founded in 2014 and is best known for its Ciutat beer brand.

2018

• Mountain Cola was introduced in December 2018 and is produced by Fontestorbes. It is sold only in Ariège and the surrounding area, positioning itself as a local cola tied closely to its Pyrenean origins.

2021

• Riviera Cola was launched in February 2021 by Les Brasseurs de l’Estérel in Saint-Raphaël, giving the Côte d’Azur its own contribution to France’s altercola landscape. Made with natural, partly organic ingredients, less sugar and a hint of lime, the cola was designed to align with the region’s fresh, sun-soaked image. Its name and branding emphasize the strong appeal of the French Riviera, both locally and abroad.

• Cola des Gone was introduced in July 2021 by two young entrepreneurs who discovered that Lyon lacked a cola of its own. Made entirely from natural ingredients sourced in the Rhône–Alpes region, it was intended as a drink for the gones — the local term in Lyon’s dialect for “kids” or, more broadly, “the people of Lyon.” The cola was discontinued in 2024.

• The modern Vendée Cola, launched in October 2021, is unrelated to the 2008 version. Its revival was led by Stanislas Savouré, who had spent many holidays in Vendée and remembered that a local cola once existed. When he looked for it in 2015, it had already disappeared from shops and the former company could not be reached.
  In 2018 Stanislas and his sister took over Maison Savouré, their family’s soft-drink company in Eure-et-Loir, which has produced lemonade since 1888. Together they had already created Beauce Cola in 2010, giving them early experience with developing a regional cola. After discovering that the trademark “Vendée Cola” had expired, Stanislas bought the rights in 2019 and began creating a completely new recipe.
  The 2021 Vendée Cola is therefore a new product with no link to the 2008 brand, and it is firmly connected to the Atlantic-facing Vendée region bordering the Bay of Biscay.

2022

• Gascon Cola is tied to the historic and cultural region Gascogne (Gascony) in southwestern France. It is a craft cola produced by Brasserie Maltéo in Colayrac-Saint-Cirq and was launched in March 2022.

• Sherlock Cola describes itself as “The Enigmatic Cola of the Landes” and sits somewhere in the grey zone of this list’s terroir colas. The label insists that it is “a proudly Landes-style cola,” though without offering much further explanation. At the same time, the makers highlight the cola’s pronounced popcorn aroma, perhaps a nod to the region’s maize production. As a mascot they have chosen a beret-wearing quokka, a species native to Western Australia. It may be fitting that the drink is named after the English detective, because the marketing strategy behind Sherlock Cola remains something of a mystery. The enigmatic cola was launched in October 2022 by Brasserie Naturelle des Landes, based in the Landes department of southwestern France.

2023

• LIL Cola was in production by January 2023, and is made by Brasserie Gobrecht in Lille, northern France, near the Belgian border.

• Cola du Bout du Monde is the third cola from Brittany and, so far, the one located furthest west. Fittingly, the small brewery behind it calls itself La Brasserie du Bout du Monde (“The Brewery at the End of the World”). The craft cola was introduced in June 2023.

2024

• Cola Artisanal Camargue was launched in 2024 by the brewery Cap Marce from Arles in southern France. Camargue is a reference to the nearby Rhône delta, known for its salt marshes, rice fields, white horses, and strong local identity. Cap Marce was founded in 2022.

2025

• Cola Creusois came out in January 2025 and is produced by Brasserie la 23 in the department of Creuse. The number is a reference to Creuse’s department number.

• Marcel Cola was introduced in 2025 by La Bière des Îles d’Or. The owner, Marcel My, named the cola after himself. What began as a tongue-in-cheek idea, partly inspired by frustration with U.S. president Donald Trump’s trade policies, quickly turned into a serious product.
  The recipe was developed to come as close as possible to the taste profile of Coca-Cola, though with its own twist. Unlike many of the terroir-driven colas on this list, Marcel Cola is less a regional manifesto and more an extension of the brewery’s existing beverage range. That said, the brewery highlights its strong local identity, emphasizing that the ingredients are sourced entirely within the region.

2026

• Forez Cola was launched in January 2026 by Brasserie des 7 Collines in Saint-Étienne. The cola is made with water from the Feurs River, a tributary of the Loire. Forez is a historic province in central France that corresponds largely to the present-day Loire department.