Already established as a category in the US, “smoothies” are beginning to take off in the UK. Soft Drinks International looks at how the leading brands in the UK are developing the burgeoning category.
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Summer 2003 could go down in the record books as the season when smoothies came of age in the UK; the summer when the chiller cabinet really became an essential merchandiser, when consumers were bombarded with evermore confusing messages from the government over health issues and brand integrity became key.
The smoothie category was already on a roll. Last year in the UK, the category grew by 47.4% and the latest figures for 2003 (AC Nielsen Scantrack) show the market has leapt from £20m in July 2002 to £29m in July 2003. They also show that smoothie sales have now hit 8.34m litres.
While PJ remains market leader in terms of volume sales, innocent has recorded a staggering 169% growth in share and own label growth has slowed. Over the last year, PJ sold 7.5m individual bottles of product, with own label selling 6m and innocent 3.2m. When it comes to value share, PJ remains the UK’s leading smoothie brand with 40% but innocent has continued its strong growth, increasing value share to 21%.
In the US, according to Orchard House, the drink has already come of age. Firmly established, the market continues to grow but at a steadier pace after phenomenal market growth which took place during the 1990s. A market previously worth US$919m was predicted to grow by a further 18% during 2002.
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By GlobalDataResearch undertaken by Orchard House in New York revealed that smoothies have little to do with thirst – they are a meal replacement and an aid to healthy living. Whilst bottled smoothies are popular in New York, juice and smoothie bars are more so. Appealing to the health-conscious New Yorker, smoothies are made to order and consumed in bars with names like Integral Yoga Natural Foods and Healthy Pleasures. Included in the recipes are added functional ingredients such as aloe vera to aid digestion, gingko to fight memory loss, ginseng and echinacea.
In London, by comparison, fledgling juice bars, where the focus is purely on health, are to be found in elite residential locations. Here, vegetable ingredients are popular and again functional ingredients are incorporated. It is rare to find a juice bar outside the capital’s environs.
Consumer confusion
Whilst consumers know that smoothies are good for you and are a premium purchase, there remains inconsistency within the category. Some are simply an interesting and refreshing blend of 100% pure juices whilst others have a dairy element such as bio yoghurt. For example, this summer has seen the launch by Sunjuice of Mango Yoghurt Smoothie, with a functional message: mangoes are rich in carotenoids that can be converted in the body to vitamin A which, in turn, is vital for sexual health and reproduction and for the maintenance of healthy skin, teeth and bones.
Orchard House’s advice is that the consumer can avoid confusion by reading the labels. Juice-based smoothies will be lighter in consistency, whilst the yoghurt varieties will be thicker. Innocent has neatly differentiated its offering and calls its yoghurt-based smoothies, ‘thickies’, whilst Pete & Johnny’s version is a ‘moothie’.
According to PJ’s September 2003 smoothie review, yoghurt smoothies continue to lead the growth of the market, whilst fruit smoothies have consolidated a stable growth of 43% year on year. PJ differentiates the smoothie offering as: standard; yoghurt and functional and expects that on the back of increasing consumer interest in functional foods, rapid growth is forecast in functional smoothies.
Orafti Active Food Ingredients is one company that is targeting smoothie manufacturers with a functional message with its prebiotic ingredients Raftiline and Raftilose. Raftiline can be used as a fat replacer, as it can stabilise water into a cream structure with the same mouthfeel as fat. Raftilose is more soluble than Raftiline and is moderately sweet, around one third as sweet as sucrose. It can be combined easily with an intense sweetener to form a sweetening profile which resembles that of sugar. This synergistic effect is claimed particularly beneficial in fruit preparations used in smoothie-style drinks.
Packaging
When smoothies were first introduced to the UK consumer five years ago, a perceived handicap for the retailer was the sell by date, or, if you’re an innocent smoothie, the ‘enjoy’ by date. The drinks needed to be in a chiller cabinet and consumed quickly. Crucial timing surrounded storage, distribution and transport.
Then Tetra Pak came along with its Tetra Brik Aseptic cartons which did away with preservatives and allowed the drink to be displayed on the ambient fixture. Thejuicecompany adopted the carton for its smoothiepack, the food service’s leading smoothie brand. And in August this year, Sunjuice launched a new range of longer life smoothies in cartons. Called Seriously Fruity, there are three variants: Mango & Passionfruit, Raspberry & Cranberry and Peach & Passionfruit.
Emma Davies, Sunjuice Director, Product Development, said: “Smoothies are an excellent way of getting at least one of your daily portions of fruit and can be enjoyed at any time of the day or night. Our Seriously Fruity smoothies really do taste like fruit in a carton. Health and the feel good factor are extremely important to consumers and the use of Tetra Pak’s Aseptic technology means that no preservatives are required. By packing our smoothies in these cartons, we are offering a wider distribution to customers with either limited or no chiller space. This helps to give smoothies a wider market appeal and further drives the fastest growing juice category.”
Clever PET technology has also extended shelf life for a newcomer to the smoothie scene, Tiger Bay Beverages. The company claims that this has given its all-natural products with added functional herbs a six-month shelf-life which is said to be unique. Tiger has been appointed to supply NUS retail shops in over 200 locations. These student shops have the choice of all four variants: Chill Out (mangoes and oranges plus the stress-relieving herb avena sativa; Vitalize (apricots and apples with added spirulina); Energize (raspberries and cranberries with oranges and apples and rhodiola) and Enrich (strawberries and bananas with added vitamins A, C and E).
The can is not forgotten either in the packaging mix. Aimed at pubs, bars and clubs the groover from thejuicecompany is available in ‘funky’ slimline cans. Cranberry & Orange and Pineapple & Coconut are the flavours. And, hot off the press, is the re-sealable pouch from Gualapack: PJ’s latest offering, introduced this autumn, is the FroOotie, a 100% crushed fruit in a cheerpack juice pouch designed specifically to “put some fun and goodness inside the British lunchbox.” Every FroOotie provides one whole portion of fruit, which is being marketed as contributing towards the Government’s recommended 5-a-day.
Marketing
Now that smoothies have come of age, marketing is stepping up a gear as the category becomes ever-more competitive. A free music festival organised in August by innocent drinks, and aptly named Fruitstock, apparently drew a crowd in excess of 40,000 to London’s Regent’s Park on the hottest weekend of the year. The festival was to thank all the company’s consumers and retailers for their support over the last four years. The event produced some impressive statistics with over 10,000 bottles of innocent drinks being consumed. At the same time, innocent’s roving customised ‘grass’ vehicles proved a crowd-puller.
Also with a transport theme was a summer sampling campaign undertaken by ‘PJ Pioneers’ on customised scooters. The company has now embarked on a national TV advertising campaign which reflects the ‘PJ Goood for you message’. “Following the success of PJ Survivor sponsorship in 2002, we realised the power of TV as an advertising medium and set about making a return to the UK screens,” said Harry Cragoe, Founder and CEO of the PJ Smoothies brand. “Reinforcing our determination to move the brand forward, TV advertising is a major aid in achieving mainstream domination with the PJ brand.”
Not to be left behind, thejuicecompany, too, has launched into retail with its first ever international advertising campaign (USA, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark, Italy, France and Bermuda) involving posters, sampling, PR, television appearances and a 12-month national press campaign.
