Clipper Teas founder looks to heat up hot drinks market with FruitBroo
Brehme has spent the last four years developing a drink that can tap into the gap in the market for “uncaffienated” soft drinks, which has failed to be filled by herbal and fruit teas.
“Research shows that consumers tend to drink a lot of coffee and tea in the morning but hit a caffeine ceiling about midday and cast around for an alternative drink in the afternoon,” he said. “Almost everyone has tried fruit, herbal or green teas, but hardly anyone likes them, so there is an opportunity for a new drink.”
The resulting brand, FruitBroo, is an eight-strong range of fruit juice-based drinks blended with less sweetness in order to be enjoyed hot.
At just 15 calories a cup, the range will be available in the on and off-trade with a 12-month shelf life, unopened, and three months once opened.
They should be sold for around the same price as an 8 oz latte and offer a similar margin to coffee.
A consumer awareness campaign is in the pipeline to drive trial, which will include sampling at festivals and food events as well as pop-up Tweet Shops in London and Bristol, where consumers get a free cup if they tweet about the brand.
Brehme, who sold Clipper Teas to a private equity firm for a reported £30m in 2007, is funding the FruitBroo business himself and said he aimed to take the brand to £50m in retail sales in the next five years.
The average food pub in the UK now serves 235 coffees a week according to CGA research. It outsells tea but 6.5 cups to one in managed food pubs, with cappuccinos and lattes by far the most popular serves.
