Sri Lanka’s Elephant House pours soft drinks into Europe

Oct 07, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka's iconic Elephant House has signed up with a UK-based bottling facility for the production of 1.5 litre PET plastic variants of its much-loved Necto, Cream Soda and Orange Barley beverages. With a view to increase exports into the European market, this bottling deal immediately targets expansion into key European markets such as Switzerland, France, Italy and Germany.

“Europe is the next big step for Elephant House in terms of export growth, and we are gearing up for it by expanding our range of offerings so as to meet our strategic goal of significantly expanding our presence," Ceylon Cold Stores, Head of Beverages Daminda Gamlath said.

"We are confident that it can achieve even bigger gains in Europe over the coming months, especially considering the already existing demand for Necto, Cream Soda and Orange Barley amongst our European consumers.” This undertaking will be accomplished with the support of Universal Suppliers Limited, Elephant House's official beverages distributor for Europe, the company said. The agreement follows more than 13 years of continuous European market growth for Elephant House Beverages, which already exports to UK, Switzerland, France, Germany, Norway, Italy, Belgium, Denmark and the Czech Republic.

Additionally, the company's beverages unit also exports to most countries in the Middle East, as well as China, India and Korea. Elephant House says it has also recorded significant gains in the UK, with its beverages currently being carried at Tesco's as well as the Walmart-owned Asda, the country's first- and second-largest supermarket chains in terms of market share.