Bacardi-Martini is to drop Metz Still and Metz Black from its portfolio of premium packaged spirit (PPS) brands and withdraw its Bacardi Rigo brand from the on-trade, thePublican.com can reveal.
Since the two variants were launched in the summer of 2000, both Still and Black have struggled to compete in the increasingly intense battle for fridge space and neither have managed to replicate the initial success of the parent Metz brand.
Bacardi Rigo has also struggled to compete in a competitive and over-crowded PPS market and will in future only be available in the off-trade.
The withdrawal of the two offshoots has coincided with the decision to relaunch original Metz with a redesigned bottle and a new "thirst-quenching" taste (see picture).
Bruce Ray, director of trade and marketing, said: "In-depth research among our target audience of men and women aged between 18 and 30 shows they love the dramatic new design and have given it a highly enthusiastic reception."
Metz 40, the full-strength schnapps spirit concept that was launched at the end of 2000, has also been relaunched with a new name, Metz Shot. It has been repackaged with the same livery as the PPS brand in an attempt to improve the synergy between the two drinks.
The Metz relaunch is Bacardi-Martini's second attempt to breathe life into the brand within the last nine months. Last spring, Bacardi-Martini updated the brand - again with a new "thirst-quenching" flavour - in time for the crucial summer period while the entire Metz portfolio, including original, Still and Black varieties, was redesigned only weeks after Guinness UDV unveiled the £10m launch of Archers Aqua into the expanding schnapps-based PPS market.
Bacardi-Martini added that despite the withdrawals, it is continuing to invest in new product development and is currently testing a number of different products for potential launch during 2002.