The heavy-glass codd-neck bottle with a round marble sealing its mouth has always been an attention-grabber for passers-by in hot summer months. But the traditional beverage, the ‘goli soda’, is fast losing its fizz with many other soft drinks in different hues and flavours flooding the local market. The soda sale has plummeted phenomenally despite its low rate (Rs.-3-a-bottle).
“Times have changed and so have choices of people. The current generation hardly knows its taste,” says an old-timer Krishna Rao. ‘Goli soda’ was the only way to quench thirst during summer a few years ago. But it is fast disappearing,” he laments. The manufacturers find it difficult to earn profits due to dip in sales. “If this continues for the next two years, people will be completely deprived of this wonderful drink,” fears Sivakumari, a-38-year-old soda maker from Ajit Singh Nagar. Two companies that manufactured these bottles at Vuyyuru and Eluru, have stopped operations reportedly due to dwindling patronage.
