Prices of ice cream and carbonated beverages are set to increase as the government plans to raise the supplementary duty (SD) by 5 percentage points on these items.
The SD on ice cream will increase from 5 percent to 10 percent, while for carbonated beverages, it will rise from 25 percent to 30 percent.
In Bangladesh, seven brands—Igloo, Polar, Lovello, Kwality, Za'n Zee, Bloop, and Savoy—meet a domestic demand of about 60 million litres of ice cream annually.
Igloo leads the market with a 38 percent share, followed by Polar at 27 percent, Lovello at 14 percent, and Kwality at 9 percent, as reported by industry sources.
The country's soft drinks market, valued between Tk 4,000 crore and Tk 6,000 crore, is dominated by two US-based companies, Coca-Cola and Pepsico.
Additionally, local beverage makers such as Pran, Akij, and Partex also contribute to this market.