Drinks company draws inspiration from Upin & Ipin brand

PUTRAJAYA: Popular local animation characters Upin & Ipin are set to embark on a new adventure – their familiar faces will soon be on bottles of nutritional drinks.

Its creator Les’ Copaque Production Sdn Bhd, through its subsidiary UI Trading Sdn Bhd, is collaborating with MGV Industries Sdn Bhd to come up with high quality beverages to be marketed under the “Upin & Ipin” brand.

Les’ Copaque managing director Burhanuddin Md Radzi said his company agreed to partner this business venture as it saw it as a unique way to further market the two cartoon characters.

“We hope to market the drinks not only locally, but elsewhere around the world. We are confident of a positive response from the market as the two characters are also popular in other countries,” he said after the two companies exchanged documents yesterday.

This was witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputra (Teraju) chief executive officer Datuk Husni Salleh.

The Prime Minister earlier chaired the Bumiputra Economic Council meeting.

The value of the product contract is worth RM44.4mil over the next three years.

Besut-based MGV Industries group managing director Zakaria Jusoh said the first of many “Upin & Ipin” brand beverages – chocolate malt drink – will be available in the market in August with the initial production to be one million bottles a month.

In the pipeline are other types of drinks such as isotonic and juices, he said, adding that both his company and UI Trading would brainstorm in search for other types of nutritional drinks that could be sold under the same brand.

“I believe this is a strategic collaboration that will boost products manufactured by my company. We have had branding issues before but I believe this will be a thing of the past now that we can sell using the `Upin & Ipin’ brand,” said Zakaria.

Husni said this agreement was the fourth signed between companies under the high performance bumiputra companies (TeraS) programme with contract value totalling RM600mil.