Enlightened times

Light variants are gradually making their mark in the UK. Nigel Huddleston reports

So-called "light" alcohol brands have struggled to establish a foothold in the UK market.

While brands such as Bud Light have become major players in the US beer market, Coors Fine Light Beer and Michelob Ultra remain niche players in the UK.

That history hasn't stopped Magners adding a Light variant to its UK stable and backing the launch with advertising around London.

Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) too has taken a gamble on light cider, with a variation on its Bulmers Original bottled product.

Magners marketing director Maurice Breen says: "The light category is something we've been in for some time over in Ireland, where it's called Bulmers Light.

"It's precisely targeted at female drinkers in the marketplace and it's done very well."

The big job for both Magners and the UK Bulmers brand (Magners owner C&C International has the rights to the Bulmers name in Ireland, but not in the UK) is communicating their positioning to consumers — the same abv as the parent brand, but fewer calories.

"It's a difficult one to get over to consumers about what 'light' actually means," Breen concedes. "People are a little bit cautious because it hasn't really been defined and there have certainly been some failures of light drinks in the UK market."

S&N marketing manager for cider Stephen Mosey admits the seg-

ment "isn't going to be massive overnight".

But he argues: "There is a big

consumer trend toward health-consciousness and people — especially women — thinking about what they put into their bodies.

"We've got a really big new product development perspective and are trying to fit in products that match with consumer trends. Light is one area those trends suggest we should be looking at."

Breen says he doesn't expect Light to detract from the parent brand.

"There will be a low-level of substitution against Magners," he says, "but we really see it as a way to bring female consumers into cider from other categories, which means it's up against lager, wine — and, to a certain extent, RTDs."

But others in the industry are go-ing to take more convincing, and point to the relative failure of other high-profile reduced-calorie launches to suggest that light cider will struggle to establish itself.

Paul Burton, joint managing director of Intercontinental Brands, the company that markets St Helier pear cider, says: "I am still to be convinced of the long-term evidence of de-mand for a light product. It will get trial and get some women into the market who might not drink cider because of the colour or taste — but if you look at Bacardi Breezer Half-Sugar, it got an initial response, but hasn't had any sustainability."

Gaymers is another cider maker that hasn't bitten the light-cider bullet yet. "Magners has been around for quite a while and has good distribution in Ireland," says Gaymer Cider's managing director John Mills. "But its rate-of-sale is small compared to the main brand."

Mills adds: "We've always struggled in the UK with what light means, and never really bought into that American light-beer market, for example."

Aspall director Barry Chevallier Guild says: "There's clearly an issue around whether it's low-calorie or low-alcohol in the eyes of the consumer."

Thatchers' Martin Thatcher is more generous, but insists the

ciders themselves need to come up to scratch. "It wouldn't be my natural choice," he says. "That doesn't mean to say that it's not that of the typ-

ical consumer. It can draw people into the category, but it's got to be a good product."