Innocent has ramped up its presence in the buoyant flavoured water category with Refresher, a range of still mineral water flavoured with real fruit juice.
Lemon & Ginger and Raspberry & Rosemary are made with no added sugar or sweetener, with 100ml containing up to 3.6g of sugar and 16.7 calories. By comparison, 100ml of Innocent’s lightly sparkling Bubbles range of fruit-flavoured water in a can has as much as 6.1g sugar and 29.6kcals.
“With healthy drinks being in strong growth, there are plenty of opportunities for our brand to stretch into new segments,” said Innocent head of strategic planning Jamie Sterry.
Refresher was the result of more than two years’ development and a “considerable” investment, he added. “For some time, we’ve felt that there is a big opportunity to disrupt the world of refreshment by proving that tasty, refreshing drinks can be totally natural. We were able to pick and blend the best of nature’s ingredients, blending squeezed fruit with mineral water and nothing else. That’s more unique than you might think.”
Refresher (rsp: £1.49/400ml) is packed in a fully recyclable plastic bottle made from 505 rPET. It has rolled out to Waitrose, Ocado and Boots, with listings in Tesco and Costa Coffee expected later this summer.
The summer will also see a £500k push for the new drinks. “We’re starting relatively small, and want to get back to our roots with how we market this range and get people to notice them,” Sterry said.
Innocent’s NPD comes with the flavoured water market in strong growth. Still options are up 5% in value in take-home sales alone to £134.3m following last summer’s heatwave, while sparkling is up 19.7% to £107.7m [Nielsen 52 w/e 4 November 2018].
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