Rwanda's leading beer and soft drinks maker, Bralirwa, has launched a 50cl bottle for its Primus beer brand onto the market.

The firm already has the petite 72cl and the 33cl big size bottles that have been available on the market since 1959 and 2007 respectively.

Jan van Velzen, Bralirwa's sales and marketing director, said the introduction of the new product aimed at giving consumers a wider variety of the product in size.

The 50cl beer bottle goes for Rwf500 on the retail market.

"The Primus brand has been appreciated by customers for over the last 50 years... we are continuously looking for new ways to meet our clients' needs," van Velzen said during the unveiling of the bottle in Gisenyi, Rubavu district.

Rwanda consumes about 1.2 million hectolitres of beer annually, and the market is largely controlled by Bralirwa, a subsidiary of Heineken Company. SKOL is the only local competitor.

"The new Primus medium-size bottle demonstrates our commitment to meet consumers' expectations," van Velzen said.