A local manufacturer Saturday announced it will launch bottled carbonated water in four flavours and

join the fray to grab a large chunk of the country's estimated Tk 10 billion soft drinks market.

Brand named Icy, the new soft drinks, will hit the market from next week. Dada Consumer Products, a
sister concern of Elias Brothers, will manufacture and market the product.

Initially, it will bring out the soft drink in four flavours- Icy apple, Icy Strawberry, Icy lemon and Icy Cola.

We've set up an integrated plant to produce the soft drinks by investing Tk 1.2 billion," Shoib Riad, a
director of Elias Brothers told the FE Saturday.

Mr Riad also said two more flavours will roll out within the next few months.

The company officials said initially it would produce daily nearly 100 tonnes of soft drinks made from
raw materials procured from a German company.

Dada is currently supplying edible oil and bottled mineral water to the local market.

Bangladesh's soft drinks market, with Pepsi Cola as the market leader, is expanding on an average 14 per
cent annually mainly because of the lengthening summer season due to the affect of climate change.

The local market, which was earlier dominated by Pepsi and Coka Cola, the world's two most popular
brands of soft drinks, is now facing stiff competition following launching of different carbonated drinks
over the past decade.

RC Cola of Partex Group was the first to hit the local stand followed by Mojo, Euro Cola, Double Cola,
Max Cola, Pran Up which grabbed a significant market share.