A fruitful year for Vimto

By: Michelle Russell - 26 August 2010 17:35

Yesterday (25 August), Nichols announced that Vimto’s brand value has exceeded GBP50m (US$77.2m) for the first time.

The soft drinks firm said the brand is now “significantly outperforming the market", growing at a rate of 31.4% year-on-year in the last year alone. The success, Nichols says, is down to its GBP6m marketing investment for the brand, together with increased distribution and stronger household penetration.

The news is a further sign that big brands are clearly boosting soft drink sales in the UK. The UK soft drinks market grew by 2% in value in 2009, enough for sales in the on-trade to climb ahead of spirits to take the number two spot behind beer.

And with many major UK soft drinks firms churning out strong growth results, it's little wonder that soft drink sales in the UK totalled GBP8.5bn across all channels in 2009.

The major firms are clearly buoying UK sales, suggesting that consumers are sticking to the big brands that they know.