Focus On Juices & Smoothies: 4 March

By Jimmy Nicholls Jimmy.Nicholls@wrbm.com 

Publishing: 4 March 2023
Advertising deadline: 17 February 2023
Submissions deadline: 10 February 2023

Volumes of juices and smoothies fell last year, as higher prices and the return of on-the-go consumption occasions drove value sales up 6.2% [NielsenIQ 52 W/E 10 September 2022]. Now, with the cost-of-living crisis squeezing household budgets and rising costs putting pressure on margins, what can retailers and suppliers do to encourage shoppers to drink more juice and smoothies? Will cheaper own label lines steal share? What buttons can brands push to maintain sales?

Premiumisation: There have been a number of premium launches over the past year – Princes launched a duo of premium drinks infused with botanicals as well as a range of fruit juice mixers and Innocent unveiled an immunity boasting smoothie to name a few. How important are such lines to brands and what claims will brands be using to justify their premium in 2023?

Own label and the retail mix: How are different retailers approaching the category in terms of branded and own label ranging, merchandising, promotions and the like? Which retailers are in strongest growth and decline? Why? And how is the brand/own label mix changing?

Price and cost pressures: How are retail prices changing as the cost-of-living crisis eats into household budgets and rising costs squeeze margins? What are retailers and suppliers doing to mitigate these pressures?

Innovations: We will profile 4 new products or ranges that have ideally not appeared in The Grocer before. We need launch date, rsp, and a hi-res picture of each.