Herrljunga to be relauched at Publican Live

The Liverpool-based drinks company signed a deal to distribute and market the brand last November.

However, Halewood has now revealed that from the very beginning of negotiations last year Herrljunga made it clear it was looking for a partner to help come up with a fresh look for the brand and to use the UK as a launch pad to relaunch the brand across Europe.

"Herrljunga realised the UK market was very competitive. And it was also recognised that there were a lot of me-too brands in the market that were not making a huge difference," said Richard Clark, marketing controller at Halewood.

"So throughout December we did consumer research and we decided we had to do something completely different.

"For us it was not about just taking on Magners, Bulmers and Kopparberg - it was about reframing the whole category."

Clark says that through research they evaluated the whole proposition, "from the packaging and the liquid to the marketing", to arrive at a final launch project worth £400,000. The name +46, which is the international dialling code for Sweden, will be rolled out into other markets once the UK launch is completed.

"Research has told us to be brave," he added.

"The whole idea of +46 and the packaging redesign is about saying that cider can compete against beer - we want overall share of the long alcoholic drinks market, and we believe with this brand proposition we are going about this the right way."

The relaunch will be officially unveiled at the Publican Live show at London's Olympia on April 1.