Groover to be a mover as smoothies hit the on-trade
After blazing a trail through cafés, coffee shops and juice bars, the smoothie phenomenon is set to hit the licensed trade.
The Juice Company has set its sights on UK pubs and bars with the launch of Groover, a new packaged smoothie range designed to take on carbonates and fruit juices in the rapidly increasing adult soft drink market.
Groover is available in either cranberry and orange or pineapple and coconut flavours and packaged in a 250ml can.
Josephine Carpenter, managing director of the Juice Company, claimed the UK launch was prompted by success in the US.
She said: "When it comes to sophisticated adult non-carbonated soft drinks, the current choice out there in bars, pubs and clubs is limited.
"We have created our Groover smoothie to specifically plug this gap and provide exciting new opportunities for the on-trade. Consumers are constantly looking for new soft drink and mixer experiences and we are confident this new brand has the credentials to stimulate and satisfy that demand."
Groover's positioning as a fruit juice mixer and a viable accompaniment to spirits will be supported by advertising in lifestyle magazines, radio campaigns as well as a road show earmarked for later this year.
The smoothie sector is estimated to be worth £30m in the UK while still soft drink sales are currently growing faster than carbonates in the UK.
Meanwhile, soft drink giant Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) is looking to strengthen its hand in the on-trade soft drinks market with the introduction of a number of its major brands.
The company is seeding its Diet Coke with Lemon concept in the on-trade for the first time while Fanta Orange, Fanta Icy Lemon and Sprite are also set to make their debut in UK pubs and bars.
In an attempt to tap into the growing trend of consumers drinking straight from the bottle, the quartet of new drinks will be launched in new 330ml glass contour bottles.
Rob Sutton, cold channel marketing controller at CCE, said: "We are delighted to be able to offer some of CCE's most popular soft drinks to the licensed trade. We believe that this launch can give our on-trade customers the chance to extend sales of soft drinks and see a real increase in their profits."
