UK: Sunny Delight No Longer ‘Kids’ Favourite

Sunny Delight no longer reigns supreme in the juice market. Figures released this week show that sales for the one time children's favourite have dropped by a massive 43.1%, compared to a year ago.The Juice Report, a market update of the total juice market by AC Nielsen, reported how the decline in Sunny Delight sales has affected the total market performance and, even forecourts have not escaped the impact of its decline.Procter & Gamble's Sunny Delight had carved out a unique position for itself as one of the most dynamic new product launches and by becoming a firm favourite for children, boosting the UK soft drinks market by 50%.But, reports questioning Sunny Delight's sugar and juice content and, more recently claims that a child who drank excessive amounts of Sunny Delight had turned orange, have all but ruined its once golden reputation.A major TV campaign promoting the new light version of Sunny Delight is not due to begin until October and Britvic's Juice Up launched in June, is now out selling Sunny Delight in some places, says Britvic marketing director, Andrew Marsden."We're thrilled, it's going fantastically well.""It's still very early days but we are already 30% over our forecast, which was a pretty aggressive forecast and we haven't even started our TV campaign yet."Commenting on The Juice Report, Marsden told just-drinks: "I'm not surprised by the figures and I think parents in particular are feeling a bit unsure about Sunny Delight and, the children and youths who were drinking it, think it's less cool than it was." Procter & Gamble UK declined to comment.Britvic plans to spend £8m on its Juice Up advertising campaign for the first year along with promotions, massive brand support and sampling opportunities.