The Nostalgia of Inca Kola

Peru's soda is part of the national identity, at home and abroad.

In 2021, El Pais published an article about how the economy of nostalgia is shaped by the food products that immigrants acquire during trips back home. The author interviewed me about Inca Kola, the soda that became more popular than Coca Cola in Peru. To this day, it’s my favorite soda. Below are some excerpts which I translated from the original Spanish to English, with edits for clarity and brevity.

Inca Kola at a chifa restaurant in Lima. Photo by Nico Vera.

Peru’s Inca Kola

Peruvians often enjoy drinking Inca Kola with Chinese-Peruvian chifa food. Its bright yellow color resembles that of a highlighter pen and its flavor is somewhere between lemon verbena and bubble gum. It was sold for the first time in 1935 and since the 60s its advertising has linked the soda to the Peruvian identity. One slogan claimed Inca Kola was “The taste of Peru!”

With the economic crisis that affected Peru in the 80s and 90s, millions of Peruvians migrated and without international distribution cans of Inca Kola became precious, nostalgic gifts to those living abroad.

Nico Vera, a vegan Peruvian chef, remembers the soda as his favorite childhood beverage. “I drank it with arroz chaufa (chifa fried rice) or a sánguche (creole sandwich) for lunch, or to quench my thirst during warm summer days.” But when his parents moved their family from Peru to the Dominican Republic and then to Canada, he longed for the soda.

“In the 70s and 80s Peruvian products were not yet available where we lived, and we missed turrón de doña Pepa (anise-flavored nougat sticks layered with raw sugar syrup and topped with colorful candy sprinkles), panetón (sweet, fluffy bread with candied fruit), D’Onofrio ice cream, and Inca Kola. But when we travelled to Peru, we brought back some of those products to enjoy them on special occasions, like Peruvian Independence Day on July 28.”

Today, Inca Kola is available outside Peru with bottling factories in the United States and Chile. And a New Jersey based company founded in 1999 distributes the drink across the US and also in Japan, Australia, and Spain, among other countries.

“What I now realize is that we always had other options, there were other sodas like Coca Cola, but we always chose Inca Kola. I think that our food and drinks make us proud because they are part of our cultural identity,” he adds.

Today, I can get Inca Kola at local Latino markets. And although it’s not a chifa, our favorite Cantonese restaurant soothes my nostalgia for the family reunions and meals from decades ago. But since the restaurant doesn’t carry Inca Kola, I sneak in my favorite soda in a thermos. Each time I drink it, I remember another slogan: “The taste that unites us,” and how it must be true for all Peruvians.