Soft drinks importers bet on exotic niche

The domestic market of soft drinks is becoming increasingly attractive to niche market products. Tea with cannabis and a drink with aphrodisiac effects will be launched this month. One of the biggest distribution firms on the domestic market, Whiteland, has entered the market of energy drinks by launching an exotic beverage with aphrodisiac effects. Tantra is imported by Whiteland from Austria and has been present on the international market since 1994. It is currently distributed on 40 markets. Besides Tantra, Whiteland has also launched the Amaze brand on the domestic market, a classic energy drink. Another firm tapping into the segment of exotic beverages is Depozitul de Vinuri (a member of RTC group). The company last week launched a tea containing cannabis on the domestic market, a product that logs annual sales of 500,000 cans on the Austrian market. C-Ice Swiss Cannabis Tea is distributed in around 37 countries worldwide. The beverage is manufactured in Switzerland and imported from Austria. Energy drink consumption in Romania increased from 1.3 million litres in 2003 to about 2.5 million litres last year, according to data released by Whiteland.