Old Jamaica ginger beer’s ‘retirement’ plans feel like a marketing gimmick

Old Jamaica’s plans to “retire” its iconic ginger beer brand ought to be treated with a healthy pinch of salt. 

True, the brand is struggling in a soft drinks market where trends have shifted towards energy, gut health and wellness in recent years. But it fills an obvious gap in the market, and – much like the now-retired Lilt – has something of a cult following.

That much was clear from the outcry at news of its apparent demise.

“You can’t take my ginger beer away from me please,” begged one social media user.

“Old Jamaica discontinuing their ginger beer? I have nothing left to live for,” lamented another.

Old Jamaica in volume decline

Old Jamaica has been in long-term volume decline since at least 2019, according to NIQ data reported by The Grocer, though value has remained steady between the £11m-£12m mark.

Sales in 2023 were a respectable £11.3m [NIQ 52 we 9 September 2023] – a drop in the ocean compared to the likes of Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Fanta, but nearly two-and-a-half times that of Bundaberg, its nearest competitor in ginger beer.

Unlike the brand switch performed by Coca-Cola Europacific Partners with Lilt, Old Jamaica’s owner, Beliv Company, doesn’t have a bigger name in its portfolio into which it could subsume Old Jamaica to turbo-charge its sales. This makes the prospect of the brand – which remains widely stocked across grocery mutliples and in convenience – disappearing entirely a remote one.

Plus, if you’re going to retire a brand, you normally do it quietly and out of sight, not with a highly co-ordinated, swanky social media campaign and accompanying OOH push.

What’s more likely is that this tongue-in-cheek campaign, co-ordinated by creative agency Samy Alliance, is a bid to increase eyeballs on Old Jamaica before a format shake-up or possibly even a reformulation.

‘Interaction bait’

Social media clearly thinks this is the case. One user described the campaign as “interaction bait” ahead of a return to the brand’s pre-soft drinks levy formulation.

Trouble is, Old Jamaica already brought back its original full-sugar ginger beer recipe in 2022. And it’s resulted in only limited distribution. 

On Reddit, meanwhile, another poster points out the campaign makes repeated reference to Old Jamaica cans. Campaign lead Hernán Cerdeiro says shoppers will soon “see the can ride off into the sunset”, while a countdown on the brand’s website will show the number of Old Jamaica cans supposedly left in the market.

It’s possible, therefore, that Old Jamaica could just be sunsetting its canned format, rather than calling time on the brand altogether.

But again, it’s already available in plastic bottles, and a switch to glass seems counter-intuitive in the face of mounting glass costs and consumer demands for sustainability. On the other hand, a move up-market into glass could help justify price increases that would maintain the brand’s sales value, even if volume declines persist.

So the next move isn’t obvious. But whatever Old Jamaica has up its sleeve, it seems unlikely shoppers will be saying farewell to this iconic brand. It might do nothing, in fact, other than promise to retire it only to bring it back in a blaze of glory. We’ve seen it happen before with Heinz salad cream. And we’ll doubtless see it again.