THE market for bottled carbonated drinks is still full of fizz, according to industry sources.

Loi Hein Company, one of the largest players in the local industry, has announced it will this month expand its product range by launching Green Spot, a non-carbonated soft drink that includes 10-15 percent orange juice.

The company is also preparing to introduce a range of carbonated soft drinks under the SAM brand in 2009 with a range of flavours, including orange, lemon lime, cola, and lychee.

The new range will all come in plastic bottles and are the latest sign the local industry is moving away from the once-dominant glass bottles.

“We will use plastic bottles for these new products because today global soft-drink makers are now favouring plastic bottles instead of glass,” Loi Hein Company’s chairman Dr Sai Sam Htun told The Myanmar Times.

“This is because glass bottles cost more and are harder to store. Customers also prefer their drinks in plastic bottles, which don’t have to be returned to the shop,” he added.

U Htin Aung Kyaw, marketing manager for Myanma Golden Star Company (MGS Beverages), agreed plastic bottles were now the standard in the soft drink industry. He said companies began making the change here about five years ago and the emergence of bottled water two years ago established plastic as the preferred bottle option.

“In the past year, sales of glass bottles declined by about 5pc in the soft drink market,” he said.

MGS Beverages, which holds about 40pc of Myanmar’s carbonated soft drink market, is one of three local producers – along with Pinya Manufacturing Company, which markets its products under the Max brand, and Loi Hein Company, which distributes soft drinks made by the Ministry of Industry (1). These three companies hold more than 95pc of the total market, while foreign imported brands, including Coca Cola and Sunkist, retain about 5pc.

MGS Beverages was established with the American-based Pepsi Company in 1991 to distribute carbonated soft drinks under the Pepsi label in Myanmar.

Since Pepsi withdrew from Myanmar in 1997, the company has continued to manufacture soft drinks in the country. It produces eight different kinds of carbonated drinks under the brands of Star, Crusher and Quench, using imported raw materials and bottles.

“Star Cola is the most popular brand in Yangon and Mandalay. Its annual sales comprise between 30 to 40pc of total sales volume,” said U Htin Aung Kyaw. “Among our other products, Crusher Orange drink is the best seller, followed by Quench.”

Loi Hein Company, in collaboration with the Myanmar Foodstuffs Enterprise under the Ministry of Industry (1), has been distributing soft drinks in glass bottles since 1995. The company produces the soft drink brands Sparkling and Fantasy Orange.

“We have been in the soft drink industry for 13 years. Sparkling is popular with middle-aged and young men, and Fantasy Orange is a favourite with women. Shark and Royal Lipo energy drinks also have become fashionable in both urban and rural areas,” said Dr Sai Sam Htun. “We opened a private factory in Mingalardon township (Htauk Kyant) in 1998 to produce energy drinks under the Shark and Royal Lipo brands.”