FANCY a bottle of ginger?

Glasgow has its very own, all-new fizzy drink, created right here in the city – and it could soon give Scotland’s other national drink a run for its money.

Made with only natural, organic and Fairtrade ingredients, Bottle of Ginger will be launched at food festival Let’s Eat Glasgow on September 3 and 4.

Foraged, micro-farmed and ethically sourced, the new tipple will be hand manufactured in small batches in Bridgeton with profits funding sister social enterprise The East Ate.

Natalia Jejer, of Bottle of Ginger and The East Ate, explained: “Sugar consumption, as everyone knows, is a massive issue particularly impacting on our less affluent areas.

Read more: Sugar tax on drinks with 'save NHS cash'

“More than a third of a teenager’s daily sugar intake comes from sweetened fizzy soft drinks, which are full of sugar, chemicals and hold no nutritional value whatsoever.

“We created Bottle of Ginger to show how everyone can take a stand, ditch the sugar and return to traditional methods of creating delicious sparkling drinks.”

The new drink owes its natural sparkle to the process of lacto-fermentation, an ancient method of food preservation which brings out the natural sugar in vegetables and fruits creating a drink which is low in sugar, free from artificial colours and sweeteners and rich in nutrients.

The East Ate, which runs projects to change the way people eat, grow and think about food in Bridgeton and the surrounding areas, is one of ten social enterprises taking part in Let’s Eat Glasgow!, which is staged by the not for profit Real Food, Real Folk co-operative of top Glasgow restaurants.

Read more: Sugar tax on drinks with 'save NHS cash'

Chris Charalambous, of Real Food, Real Folk member restaurant Cail Bruich says: “Real Food, Real Folk has been working with The East Ate on a number of projects since January and it’s wonderful to see this new enterprise, Bottle of Ginger, come to fruition.

“They have very cleverly taken this Glasgow turn of phrase - which has become a catchword for all manner of sugar-laden carbonated drinks - and reclaimed its original meaning, harking back to when John Crabbie created ginger beer from imported ginger and exotic spices in Leith, Edinburgh, at the start of the nineteenth century.

Bottle of Ginger will be available at £2.50 a glass in the pop-up market at Let’s Eat Glasgow! The East Ate, will share the stand, selling a range of herbs grown at the community hub at Daldowie, which Real Food, Real Folk has helped to establish.

After the festival, production will move to Crownpoint Road and it’s hoped Bottle of Ginger will be on sale in local cafes and shops later this year. The social enterprise also has long-term aspirations to sell direct to restaurants and bars across the city as a staple Glasgow draught for mixers.

Bottle of Ginger also plans to expand the range to include a rhubarbade, made from rhubarb grown by people across the city.

“We want people - individuals, families and organisations - across the city to ‘adopt’ one of 200 established rhubarb plants or ‘crowns’, planting it in their own garden, community space or school grounds,” said Natalia.

“Food inequality exists right across Glasgow so we decided to take our rhubarb growing project beyond Bridgeton.

“We’ve also found through projects like our recent community dinners, hosted with Real Food, Real Folk in association with NE Glasgow Foodbank, that people really love the idea of connecting with other groups across the city, sharing experiences and learning from each other.

“We hope Rhubarbade will get everyone growing, talking, learning and having fun.”

Read more: Sugar tax on drinks with 'save NHS cash'

Let’s Eat Glasgow takes place at SWG3 in Finnieston on September 3 and 4 and entry is free. Sixteen Glasgow restaurants will be serving food priced from just a fiver and other highlights include a small farmyard, a pop-up market with 45 artisan food and drink producers from across the West of Scotland and forward thinking social enterprises, cooking demonstrations by guest chefs and celebrities and live music.