Adult soft drinks brand Bottlegreen is overhauling its packaging and launching a raft of new products including a kids offer in a bid to double turnover to at least £25m in three years.
The redesigned cordial range will arrive in Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury's next week, with its new-look Pressé range set to be relaunched in September. Its World Domain wine replacement range will also be rebranded as Bottlegreen later this year, while its sorbets and still drinks will be redesigned next year.
The overhaul follows research that revealed recognition of the brand was weak. "People knew the shape of the bottle but couldn't remember the name," said marketing director Andrew Mallinson. "A lot of own-label products had been adding photography to labels, so we wanted to be more distinct. We wanted to return to our original roots with a natural, premium positioning."
The company underwent an MBO last April led by Piper Private Equity. Its new strategy will put more focus on marketing with the £150,000 packaging relaunch the first major activity to come to fruition. It also plans to launch a kids range in coming months and will introduce new flavours, including Cox's apple & plum and pomegranate & elderflower.
To back the relaunch it is investing £1m in marketing and kicking off an ad campaign in the June issues of lifestyle magazines such as Easy Living.
Growth plans fell below expectations last year, admitted Mallinson, but sales were still up 14% to £11m for the year. "Summer killed us," he said. "But we have seen sales up about 25% over the past four months."
Bottlegreen was also fully committed to its sorbets, insisted Mallinson. "There's a big opportunity from the premiumisation of desserts and ice creams," he said. "Sorbets are also healthier with no additives and will be a focus for us in 2009."
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