Ahmedabad: With a view to expand its product offering and consolidate its position in the beverages market, billion-dollar brand Amul has launched chocolate milk, christened ''Amul Kool Koko''. The product is made from pure milk, with the addition of cocoa solids, and has a target market of teenagers and the youth.

Priced at Rs15 for 200ml, the beverage is available in a bottle or a tetra pack of the size, along with a 250ml can, which comes for Rs20, and a one-litre tetra pack for Rs50.

Over the past couple of months, Amul has introduced a slew of milk-based drinks, in its bid to emerge as the single-largest entity in the beverages market. Amul Koko is the latest addition to its beverage offering, which comprises flavoured milk Amul Kool, low-calorie drink Masti Butter Milk, ready-to-drink coffee Kool Café, and India''s first sports drink, Stamina.

Summing up its offering, the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) is now the leading player in the Indian dairy beverages market, having secured a staggering 90-per cent market share in the branded packaged dairy drinks segment.

The milk-based market has been showing a double-digit growth. The Indian soft drink market is worth about Rs7,000 annually. Carbonated soft drinks account for 85 per cent of the total soft drink market, but the segment has seen its growth stagnate or even decline in the last few years.