The UK's biggest ice cube supplier is introducing crushed ice for the first time to a supermarket as interest in cocktails continues to grow.
The Ice Company teamed up with Tesco and Bacardi in June to bring the first bag of booze-branded ice cubes to market and it is following up the innovation with the launch of Ice Crush (rsp: £1 per 2.4kg pack) into Tesco Extra stores next week.
"There are so many cocktails that require crushed ice rather than cubes and we also expect it to be used in home-made iced coffees," said Paul Doughty, MD at The Ice Company. "Even Jamie Oliver was using crushed ice in a granita dessert recipe last month."
Similar to the branded ice cube packs, selected packs will feature branding from Bacardi-owned spirits including Jack Daniel's and Southern Comfort as well as cocktail recipes.
The company already supplies crushed ice to restaurants such as The Dorchester and Claridge's.
It also revealed plans to launch a "bucket" containing a bag of crushed ice and sachets of either frozen slices of lemon or lime next summer.
The tub will sport branding from a spirits brand and Doughty said he had been "working closely" with Bacardi about using Bombay Sapphire for the on-pack merchandising.
"It will be an aspirational product," said Doughty, adding that Tesco was already interested in listing it. "Frozen fruit slices are a first for mainstream retail. It would be a convenient option for G&T drinkers and there will be no need to go back to aisle one to buy fruit when you're at the freezer section."
The Ice Company teamed up with Tesco and Bacardi in June to bring the first bag of booze-branded ice cubes to market and it is following up the innovation with the launch of Ice Crush (rsp: £1 per 2.4kg pack) into Tesco Extra stores next week.
"There are so many cocktails that require crushed ice rather than cubes and we also expect it to be used in home-made iced coffees," said Paul Doughty, MD at The Ice Company. "Even Jamie Oliver was using crushed ice in a granita dessert recipe last month."
Similar to the branded ice cube packs, selected packs will feature branding from Bacardi-owned spirits including Jack Daniel's and Southern Comfort as well as cocktail recipes.
The company already supplies crushed ice to restaurants such as The Dorchester and Claridge's.
It also revealed plans to launch a "bucket" containing a bag of crushed ice and sachets of either frozen slices of lemon or lime next summer.
The tub will sport branding from a spirits brand and Doughty said he had been "working closely" with Bacardi about using Bombay Sapphire for the on-pack merchandising.
"It will be an aspirational product," said Doughty, adding that Tesco was already interested in listing it. "Frozen fruit slices are a first for mainstream retail. It would be a convenient option for G&T drinkers and there will be no need to go back to aisle one to buy fruit when you're at the freezer section."
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