Silver Spring Mineral Water Co Ltd Park Farm Industrial Estate Folkestone Kent, CT19 5EA Tel: 01303 856500 Fax: 01303 256524 E-mail: sales@silverspring.co.uk Key CONTACTS Sales & marketing manager Eddie Bullen Retail sales manager Andrew McAdam Promotions manager Chris Ankers Key brands - Perfectly Clear Sparkling Range 330ml, 500ml & 2 litre - Perfectly Clear Still Range 500ml & 2 litre - Smashers Still with JetCap 500ml - Jetz Still with JetCap 500ml still with JetCap - PopStar Still (new launch) 330ml - Test the Zest 330ml, 500ml & 2 litres - Pulsar Glucose Energy Drink 1 litre (Sparkling) & 500ml (Still) - The Silver Spring' Spring Water 500ml & 2 litre (Sparkling), 2 litre (Still) & 500ml (Still with sports cap) In a year that featured an unremarkable summer, product innovation, choice and unprecedented promotional activity played significant parts in developing market growth. Silver Spring launched a number of products which single handedly created new market categories, including the Perfectly Clear Still range which produced impressive sales volumes through both multiples and independents. "Perfectly Clear Still has opened up a completely new market ­ one which will be the new soft drink phenomenon of the decade," says Eddie Bullen, Silver Spring's sales and marketing manager. This Christmas sees the launch of another Silver Spring first ­ the new children's PopStar range which lines up alongside existing youth brands Smashers and Wild Things. Both have given the market leader in sugar-free and children's soft drinks huge consumer approval ­ from both parents and children. "While Smashers is without doubt topping the charts at the moment in the eight to 18 market we see our new Pop Stars range adding another dimension to the younger age group with six exciting flavours to really rock their taste buds," says Chris Ankers, promotions manager at Silver Spring. "With a November launch date, this product will, without doubt, be a big hit for Christmas." In flavour While consumption of bottled water remains substantially lower than in other European countries, sociological trends and wariness surrounding the perceived quality of tap water have both fuelled consumer acceptance of bottled water. "During 1999 the market for waters with added flavour continued to increase consumer choice and drive sales," says Andrew McAdam, retail sales manager at Silver Spring. "Perfectly Clear Still with sports cap is one such example of this innovation. With £5 million of new investment in this category, including the opening of a 500 million litre per annum Spring Water source and the commissioning of several new filling lines, Silver Spring aims to be at the forefront of the category. "Undoubtedly, we will see many brands following us into the flavoured still spring water market," adds McAdam, "however, our latest success, Perfectly Clear Still, which we launched at SIAL 2000 in Paris, has already added a new dimension to the bottled water market. It is destined to create a whole new market sector ­ one which will answer the needs of 30% of the population who prefer still to sparkling and who want to add flavours to their lifestyle." Quenching desire Meanwhile, Silver Spring is putting resources into the flagging dilutables market with a number of products close to launch ­ "coolness" and "convenience" will, it promises, soon be back in the dilutables category, but for the moment it's keeping developments under wraps. As with many manufacturers, it welcomes the advent of grocery home shopping as an opportunity for growth. "In the past, the large budgets of the global brands have played a big part in securing distribution and, in some cases, even restricting consumer choice,"says McAdam. "In the future, e-tail will offer a cheaper entry level into the distribution end of the value chain, thus levelling the playing field for large and small brand owners alike. The effect of e-commerce will be to allow the consumer greater choice and purchasing discretion." {{Z SUPPLEMENTS }}