Brands chase impulse sales as juices sour

Lower-sugar products and smaller formats. That’s a way forward for juices & smoothies, say the sector’s biggest brands.

They certainly need to do something. The market’s decline has accelerated in the past year, losing a further £84.3m (4.4%) following the £69.4m loss we reported a year ago. The decline, prompted chiefly by growing concern over sugar content, has inspired range rationalisation across the market. 

Tropicana and PepsiCo stablemate Copella are among the biggest casualties, losing £31.6m between them as retailers devote more space to less sugary alternatives to juice. Both brands were burnt by Waitrose’s 2014 decision to replace more than 30 of the brands’ lines with lower-sugar own-label products.

Removing sugar guarantees nothing, of course. Stevia-sweetened Trop50 is down £2.5m, for example. PepsiCo has turned to functional benefits, launching fruit & veg Tropicana Essentials variants. Fruitamins and Immune Support juices have been put in 150ml bottles to drive impulse sales. 

“Demand for juices with additional benefits is continuing to grow,” says PepsiCo marketing director Jeremy Gibson. “Consumers are looking for additional vitamins, minerals and vegetables; juice is an easy way to get these into their diet.”

No one can accuse brands of sitting on their hands, however. NPD has contributed £59m to the category, and smaller formats for the on-the-go market are a growth area. Single-serve juices & smoothies are up 6.7%, thanks partly to greater use in meal deals. 

Innocent has helped drive this trend, with NPD including single-serve Innocent Bubbles and coconut water, the biggest launch of the year, with sales of £5.2m since April. “The wide variety of innovation we’ve launched means we’ve gained listings across our ranges,” says MD Nick Canney. “We’re set to have one of our most successful years ever.”

Innocent helped drive 74% growth in coconut water to £44m, although Vita Coco contributed most, with sales up £6.8m. The attention retailers are paying ‘healthier’ drinks has also been crucial; Canney credits Waitrose’s new ‘wellness bays’ (on trial in 10 stores) and Asda’s Mighty Merchants scheme, in which stores compete to sell the most of certain products, as particularly helpful.

But as new products gain space, others are culled. Tesco delisted a raft of added-sugar kids’ SKUs including Ribena, Rubicon and Capri-Sun in July. The former two are in decline, while CCE says it’s maintained growth by adding new no added sugar lines. 

Expect more such activity, says Nielsen analyst Tom d’Angelo. “With retailers clamping down on sugar, no added sugar variants are undoubtedly allowing brands to keep shelf space they’d otherwise have lost.”

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