Soft in the Summer
Soft drinks and mineral water sales get an uplift in Summer but overall the category remains under pressure.
Nevertheless, hot Summer weather has been shown to increase sales of soft drinks while boosting increased instances of impulse buying.
A UK consumer survey found that one in three consumers order a soft drink simply because they weren’t offered an alternative and nearly half reported that they’d stay longer in the pub if the range of soft drinks improved.
“With the on-trade becoming ever more driven by food-related occasions, with openings now outweighing closures, the Soft Drinks category has enjoyed a stable year in volume sales, with a small growth in value,” observed Dave Lancaster of market researchers CGA Stratey, “Premiumisation is now well and truly evident in the sector.
“Cocktails continue to boom with more outlets than ever listing them, again giving a wider scope for soft drinks to be utilised in the trade with a number of leading brands launching their own serving suggestions to showcase their versatility and drive brand awareness within outlet.”
Iconic Irish brands driving Summer innovation at Counterpoint
Counterpoint‘s iconic Irish brands lead the soft drink and bottled water categories in Ireland. Club Orange will be Ireland’s most popular brand in the citrus soft drink market this Summer.
Apart from Ballygowan Counterpoint has other brands that form part of people’s fond Irish summer memories including 7UP, Cidona and TK Red Lemonade. These brands will be supported with heavyweight campaigns on TV and through other media this Summer.
In particular look out for the 7UP Ideas Hub Road Show and Club Wingman events in pubs and hotels this Summer.
Many of its customers also associate Counterpoint with its popular Britvic Ireland drinks portfolio and Counterpoint’s on-trade customers consistently emphasise how important it is to create excitement in the on-trade by introducing new and exciting brands that genuinely offer consumers a new experience.
J20 – There’s Joy in the Blend!
This Summer Counterpoint has a high quality premium juice offering, very popular with adults in other international markets – J2O.
A pun on the chemical formula for water, H2O, it was chosen due to the drink’s 50% fruit juice content and is available in Apple & Mango, Apple & Raspberry and Orange & Passion Fruit flavours.
“J20 is the adult soft drink for any social occasion – created especially for adults who’re looking for a great taste experience and a bottle they’re proud to be seen w
ith. Created by Blend-Masters, each of J20’s fruit blends has been carefully-crafted to provide a satisfying and multi-dimensional taste experience designed to sip and savour.”
Following a successful initial launch a strong support programme is in place to grow the brand and drive awareness among consumers. This Summer sees the launch of a nationwide outdoor campaign encouraging consumers to ‘burst into Summer’ alongside a digital and instore competition platform to win the ‘ultimate BBQ’.
J20 also has strong online presence through an active and engaging facebook community. Make sure you’re stocked up with the full J20 range this Summer – contact your local Counterpoint representative for more details.
New Coca-Cola 330ml Glass Range Refreshing Lunchtime
Following the exciting launch last April of a new 330ml bottle to complement its portfolio, Coca-Cola Hellenic Ireland has been helping publicans drive the lunchtime trade in bars across the island. The new bottle size proves the perfect fit for the ‘with food’ occasion, allowing publicans offer customers more value in refreshment with their food.
Market research in late 2014 found eight in 10 consumers stating a clear preference for the new larger 330ml glass bottle for ‘with food’ occasions. The new pack size for Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Diet Coke, Fanta Orange, Sprite and Sprite Zero has been successful in driving soft drink sales during the lunchtime occasion. CCHB is providing outlets with the opportunity to triple their sales of soft drinks at lunchtime by stocking this new 330ml Coca-Cola glass bottle range and communicate an appropriate link deal with food to consumers.
Research shows that seven in 10 consumers are highly enticed by meal-deal offerings and to support this CCHBC Ireland is providing bespoke marketing materials to drive soft drink sales linked with meal occasions.
“Following the launch of the new 330ml bottle we’re delighted to see it resonating with our customers as they seek to offer value to consumers during the ‘with food’ occasion,” said CCHBCI’s Customer Marketing Manager for Licensed Trade Peter Hughes, “Based on our extensive research we’re pleased to be the first soft drinks company in Ireland to offer choice and variety in a glass pack size to meet different customer and consumer occasions.”
CCHBCI will continue providing a range of products for the alcohol mixing occasion with its 200ml CSD, 125ml Schweppes and 200ml Fruice range. To discuss how you can avail of the new 330ml range please contact your local sales representative.
Finches Splash
Finches Splash is manufactured and distributed by C&C Gleeson, makers of Finches Soft Drinks, at its manufacturing facility in Borrisoleigh, Ireland. Finches Splash combines all the quality and choice associated with Finches in a convenient, profitable and easy-to-use dispense system.
Finches Splash comes in a range of flavours including Cola, Diet Cola, Orange, White & Red Lemonade & Energy.
Its on-counter ‘gun’ dispenses up to five products at the push of a button and reduces your staff-handling, waste, space and recycling costs.
The high margins in Finches Splash help drive profit for you and your business. As Finches Splash canisters are stored in the cellar with just a dispense head at the bar, this frees-up valuable fridge and shelf space allowing more room for high-margin alcohol brands.
C&C Gleeson can also provide tailored marketing support to drive visibility in outlet as well as a range of rate-of-sale driving activity and POS. All installation and servicing is carried out by its dedicated Technical Services Team who’ve over 30 years of experience.
These technicians are all certified in Hygiene Awareness by the EPDWA. For more information or to organise a ‘No Cost No Obligation on-site survey’, please contact Jodyhurley@gleesongroup.ie
Mineral water – best performer
In its recent report Soft Drinks Market Insights 2015, Canadean reports that, “For a second consecutive year, packaged water had the best performance in the Irish soft drinks market. In 2014 volumes were 151m liters marking a 13% increase overall.
“With a per capita consumption figure of 31.7 litres, increasingly more consumers have opted for packaged water as a means to hydrate themselves without having to worry about consuming excess sugars,” states Canadean adding, “Looking forward to 2015, it’s expected this trend will continue with packaged water outperforming within overall soft drinks”.
Volumes are set to increase by another 5% in 2015 to 159m litres, according to Canadean.
“It’s expected the ongoing debate around the levels of sugars in soft drinks will only help the category” it points out, “with many consumers opting for packaged water and migrating from other categories.”
So how heavily do you push your mineral water range and what have the suppliers got in store this Summer?
Deep RiverRock
Deep RiverRock is a local market-leading bottled-water brand sourced from deep beneath a glacial valley in Co Antrim rich in natural minerals. It’s the No 1 branded water (volume & value) on the island and it continues to drive market growth in the water category.
Deep RiverRock’s recent packaging refresh ensures on-shelf stand-out for the bottles with their crisp, modern and clean new graphics particularly giving the glass packs a premium look and feel in trade.
The perfect partner for the warm Summer evenings, Deep RiverRock caters for all water occasions through an extensive brand portfolio including the 330ml & 750ml glass packs.
As the proud Official Hydration Partner of the four rugby provinces – Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Connacht – and the Title Sponsor of Belfast’s City Marathon, Deep RiverRock continues to highlight the importance of hydration through the ‘When You Can’t Think Straight…Hydrate’ campaign.
Understanding the importance of hydration has been the main focus of this campaign. Just a 2% drop in hydration levels will slow your body and mind and take your eye off the ball. With that in mind, Deep RiverRock challenges consumers to take this new hydration test online via the newly-launched facebook page.
The challenge contains a series of fun games to test mental sharpness and encourage ‘thirsty brains’ to top up on their hydration levels with Deep RiverRock.
Log on to f/DeepRiverRock to test your hydration levels.
Ballygowan – Ireland’s clear favourite
Ballygowan Natural Mineral Water is Ireland’s original and most popular water brand. With 750 years of heritage and purity in its filtering process Ballygowan is hydrating the nation, helping us look and feel our best inside and out, states the company.
All Ballygowan is bottled in a dedicated bottling facility in Newcastlewest, drawing on an exclusive source of pure Natural Mineral Water.
The St David’s Well source was first discovered by the Knights Templar over 800 years ago as they returned from the Crusades and sits in the grounds of the Ballygowan bottling plant to this day.
Ballygowan is a founding member of the Love Irish Food campaign which champions locally-sourced goods, supporting Irish jobs.
It’s also a proud supporter of Irish sport, official water to the Irish Open and was recently announced as Official Hydration Partners of Dublin GAA.
Bottled water is the fastest-growing soft drinks sector in the licensed market (6% MAT). The brand holds a 55.4% share of the market and is leading market growth (8.2% MAT). Available in 330ml and 750ml glass bottles, Ballygowan has a pack to suit every consumer need.
