Soft drink sales correlate with the weather Squashes and cordials are typical of soft drinks in seeing their strongest sales over the summer months as hydration and refreshment becomes more important to consumers. Following two warm summers in 2013 and 2014, 2015 saw fewer hours of sunshine over the key July and August months in particular. Summer 2015 was also wetter than average, with July seeing almost twice as much rainfall as in 2013 and 2014 (see Market Drivers).
Squashes/cordials are traditionally a commodity category
Squashes/cordials are a very affordable option against other soft drinks, helping to drive penetration to 82%. However, this has also contributed towards squashes/ cordials being seen as a cupboard staple which it is difficult to encourage consumers to pay more for. Super-concentrated squashes have had some success in raising the average price of the category
(see Market Drivers).
Sugar concerns impact the market
Consumer concerns regarding the sugar in food and drink are widespread, driven by media coverage and the government’s efforts to tackle rising obesity. ‘No added sugar’ has become a prominent feature of many squashes/cordials, with Britvic removing all full-sugar variants from its Robinsons range from early 2015.
Meanwhile, Ribena was among companies affected by Tesco’s delisting of full-sugar soft drinks targeting kids, although nosugar variants continue to be sold by the retailer (see Market Drivers).
Companies and brands
Britvic’s Robinsons brand dominates the market
Britvic continues to dominate retail sales of squashes and cordials via its Robinsons brand, standing at £203 million and with a
44% share of the category’s value sales in 2015. This is comfortably ahead of its nearest competitor, Vimto, which only holds an 8% share. However, Britvic has struggled over the past three years as its squash/cordial sales have slid by more than 10% by value and volume.
Most of the other leading squash/cordial brands and own-label also saw their sales fall over the 2013-15 period, with only
Vimto and Ribena seeing some growth.
The two main premium cordial brands
– Bottlegreen and Belvoir – saw sales stabilise after some strong growth pre-
2013, and are well placed to grow in the coming years following recent distribution gains (see Market Share).
FIGURE 3: VALUE SALES OF TOP-SELLING SQUASH AND CORDIAL BRANDS IN
THE OFF-TRADE, 2015*
* 52 w/e 2 January 2016
Source: Based on IRI/Mintel
NPD in the market rises in 2015
The number of new cordial/squash products increased again in 2015, buoyed by several brands repackaging and relaunching new variants. However, squash/cordial launches still only equate to
7% of total non-alcoholic drinks NPD (New
Product Development) activity in 2015, reflecting the relatively niche position of the category.
Asda was the most proactive operator by
NPD over the past five years, accounting for 10% of NPD in the market over the
2011-15 period. However, it fell behind
Sainsbury’s in 2015, the latter launching a variety of high-juice squashes and adventurously flavoured variants.
Following the success of Britvic’s Squash’d range, many retailers have launched ownlabel super-concentrates over the past two years. The industry’s increasing focus on health is apparent in the growing trend towards low/no/reduced (L/N/R) sugar claims, the share of which in new launches rose by 8 percentage points over the 2011-
15 period.
These includes Britvic removing all fullsugar lines from its Robinsons fruit squash as part of a brand relaunch in early 2015.
The squashes are now branded as having
‘real fruit in every drop’, with new flavours rolled out to support the rebranding and repackaging (see Launch Activity and
Innovation).
Britvic drives a rise in adspend in
2015
After several years of relatively flat adspend, spend rose noticeably in 2014 and 2015. Britvic remains the largest spender on advertising and is the main contributor towards this upward trend, accounting for almost half of category adspend in 2015. Robinsons accounts for
CORDIALS AND SQUASHES, UK - APRIL 2016 4
© Mintel Group Ltd. All rights reserved. the majority of this, with heavy advertising support for the Squash’d range over the past two years (£3.9 million and £1.9 million respectively).
Suntory is the other leading advertiser in the category, with a new quirky adultoriented campaign being launched for its
Ribena brand in summer 2015 (see Brand
Communication and Promotion).