Britvic grew sales in Great Britain by 8.5% to £1.29bn in the year ended 30 September 2024 after the maker of Pepsi, Tango and Jimmy’s Iced Coffee increased marketing investment behind its brands.
At a group level, Britvic increased its advertising and promotional (A&P) spend by more than £20m, taking total spend in its financial year to £87.2m. Key activations in the UK included a brand refresh for Pepsi, a renewed push for Tango and a television debut for Plenish.
Revenue growth at Britvic GB was driven by a combination of price/mix, with “average realised price growth” per litre climbing 6.5%, and volumes increasing more modestly by 1.8%, the supplier said in its full-year results on 20 November.
Advertising and promoting to drive awareness and trial of its brands had been a key factor in performance this year, Britvic GB managing director Paul Graham told The Grocer.
“Increasing our levels of investment [is something] which we aim to do consistently, and in 2024 we’re really pleased we’ve been able to do that,” he said. “Clearly, there’s been an increase in our spend around Pepsi, which we work with PepsiCo on, but we’ve also increased investment across our core brands.”
‘Breakthrough brands’ backed
While the largest recipients of A&P spent were household brands such as Pepsi, Pepsi Max and Tango, on a percentage basis the largest uplift in spend came on “breakthrough brands” like Plenish, Graham revealed.
As a result, Britvic’s A&P spent as a percentage of own brand revenue increased from 3.8% last year to 4.6% in the year ended 30 September 2024.
“On something like Plenish we’re looking to be a bit more targeted and focused,” Graham said. “Which is why we’ve picked the breakfast occasion, and are using outdoor media like on the London Underground and in key sites across London to highlight our message.”
The uplift in spend has helped Plenish revenues grow by over 100% year on year. The brand’s plant-based milk range has solidified its position as the number three brand in the category, while distribution of its juice shot range has nearly doubled.
Moving forward, Graham played down the suggestion Plenish could look to enter more functional drinks categories in search of further incremental growth, however. The brand would remain focused on milk alternatives and juices and shots, he insisted.
“We’re building a really strong wellness platfrom [with Plenish],” he said. “Which is why we are really consistent around the quality of ingredients and the ingredients we put in. We are the only dairy milk alternative brand that doesn’t have gummies and emulsifiers and that is really important to us.”
A slower burner for Britvic has been Jimmy’s Iced Coffee, acquired last August.
The supplier declined to provide full year-on-year revenue growth figures for Jimmy’s. The brand had registered “brand value growth of 15.0% in the latest 26 weeks”, ahead of RTD coffee category growth of 1.7% in the same period, it said.
“With the distribution footprint now we’re really starting to kick on,” Graham said. “We’re really pleased with the progress we’re seeing on Jimmy’s, and actually the progress is faster than the timelines from when we brought Plenish in.”
Soft drinks levy hike ‘surprising’
Elsewhere, Britvic was a “a little bit surprised” by the decision taken in last month’s budget to increase the soft drinks levy in line with inflation, Graham said.
“Given the progress that the industry has made around sugar reduction, which has been substantial, we were a little bit surprised that the government chose to look at soft drinks,” he said.
Despite this, Britvic would face “a limited impact” as a result of the increased levy, as less than 5% of its products contained more than 5g of sugar per 100ml, Graham added.
Group revenues at Britvic rose 8.6% to £1.9bn in the year, with adjusted EBIT up 14.9% to £250.9m.
Pre-tax profits increased by 10.5% to £173.2m despite the group taking a £21.3m hit related to the proposed takeover by Carlsberg.
CEO Simon Litherland said Britvic had “delivered another excellent financial performance this year”.
“Subject to approval from the regulatory authorities, we anticipate that the acquisition by Carlsberg will complete in the first quarter of 2025,” he added.
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