Two young men enjoy cold soft drinks as the temperatures to soar in the capital.

DRINKING water and soft drink sales have been brisk as summer temperatures have continued to soar, said Yangon-based drink manufacturers late last month.

Dr Sai Sam Htun, the chairman and managing director of Loi Hein Co., Ltd, which began producing Alpine brand drinking water in 2002, said sales have more than doubled compared with the same period last year.

“From February to April last year, we sold only three million (one-litre) bottles of water, but during the same period this year we sold seven million bottles,” he said.

“We usually sell about 50 million bottles of drinking water a year, and sales have increased since 2004. We have enjoyed 60 per cent of the total drinking water market in Myanmar and we hope to gain more,” Dr Sai Sam Htun said.

“We plan to expand our business by 30 to 40 per cent in the near future,” he said.

Ko Min Ta La Nyan, the group marketing manager at MGS Beverages Co., Ltd, which entered the drinking water business in May 2003 with the Popa Aqua brand, said sales have increased by 100 per cent from last year.

“The demand for drinking water is so high that we cannot supply enough to keep up, but we plan to increase production and gain a bigger market share,” he said.

Ko Min Ta La Nyan said that because the drinking water market is so big, there is plenty of room for companies to increase their sales.

“The Yangon market is the first priority for our business because nationwide we have a market share of about 10 per cent, but in Yangon our share is much higher,” he said.

While the drinking water industry is getting bigger, the manufacturers of carbonated soft drinks are facing tough competition amid an increasing number of producers and brands.

Ko Min Ta La Nyan said that sales of his company’s soft drinks, which include the Star, Quench and Crusher brands, have remained steady.

“The competition has gotten tough as new soft-drink-producing companies have entered the market,” he said.

“They are taking market shares away from carbonated products,” he said.

U Thein Win, the executive director of Peace Myanmar Group Co., Ltd, said his company sold more than seven million bottles of water in the first four months of 2005, about the amount same as last year during the same period.

The Peace Myanmar Group was established in 1995 and sells soft drinks, alcoholic beverages and drinking water under the PMG brand name.

“We entered the drinking water market using opaque, white plastic bottles but now we have introduced clear plastic bottles, and our sales figures are now higher than previous years,” said U Thein Win.

“In 2003 our sales were not very good as there were difficulties in the banking sector, but in 2005 we hope there will be an improvement in the business,” he said.

U Thein Win said that the company’s business strategy is to upgrade its products, to sell them for a reasonable price and to conduct promotion campaigns.

U Myat Htut, the general manager of Hinn Hinn Khine Co., Ltd, which produces Ve Ve soft drinks, said his company’s sales have been higher than last year’s due to the recent introduction of new products.

“Most of our customers like natural passion juice, and we recently introduced a strawberry drink – we want to produce more new products with natural fruits,” he said.

“The prices of raw materials to produce natural fruit drinks are getting higher, but we have not increased the prices of our products,” he said.

U Myat Htut said that Ve Ve has a 40 to 50 per cent share of the soft drink market.