Britvic has revealed its plans for its Irish water brand Ballygowan, launching in Great Britain this month as the replacement for its two axed water ranges.

The company last year announced it was closing its Huddersfield factory and delisting Drench and Pennine Spring. In their place it is rolling out Ballygowan, which has a 21% share of the bottled water market in Ireland and is bottled at source at Britvic’s facility in County Limerick. Britvic took on Ballygowan in 2007 as part of its acquisition on C&C Group’s soft drinks division.

Over the next two months, Ballygowan - which is already carried by some GB retailers through third-party distributors - will replace Drench and Pennine Spring in retailers on a like-for-like basis.

The launch will focus on the ‘immediate refreshment’ impulse market, which makes up 30% of the water category [Nielsen September 2013], and will be supported over the summer with outdoor ads and in-store activity.

The initial line-up comprises pack formats aimed at the impulse market: 50cl still and sparkling (rsp: 65p), 75cl PET (rsp: 94p) and a new-to-market one-litre PET size (rsp: £1.09).

Britvic said it might also launch other lines from the Irish Ballygowan range, including multipacks and 25cl ‘Kids’ bottles.

“Over the longer term, when the brand is established with consumers, we will assess the opportunity to launch a wider range,” said Britvic GB marketing director Jonathan Gatward.

Britvic retained flavoured water brand Juicy Drench when it axed its Drench waters, and said it had no plans to extend Ballygowan into the flavoured water market.

The company will be hoping Ballygowan can give it traction in the UK bottled water market - up 8.7% by volume and 10.6% by value [Nielsen].

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