Iranian Firm Launches Soft Drink Production in Afghanistan

Zamzam Group, an Iranian producer of soft drinks, has launched a production line in Afghanistan’s fourth-largest city, Mazar-i-Sharif. 
The factory has come on stream as of July 5, the company’s public relations office reported.
Based on a contract, Afghanistan’s Sadat Cola Company and Peyman Sazeh Paydar Company will be cooperating for producing Zamzam soft drinks in PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) packages.
Zamzam is Iran’s oldest soft drink producer that started operations in 1955. 
Manufacturers of carbonated soft drinks in Iran have witnessed a 30-40% fall in production in the current fiscal year (started March 20) over the shutdown of restaurants, ceremony halls and fast food outlets, and the cancellation of wedding and funeral ceremonies in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
According to Secretary of Iran’s Carbonated Soft Drinks Association Mehdi Sayyadian, producers are facing uncertainty regarding prices due to the constant rise in foreign currency rates, Fars News Agency reported.
“Some of the raw materials required in the production of carbonated soft drinks are supplied through imports,” he said.