As part of the relaunch, designed to give the brand “even wider appeal”, the range will be reduced from six flavours to three ‘core’ variants and one special limited-edition flavour. Orange & passion fruit, apple & mango and apple & raspberry are to be retained, while current limited-edition flavour glitter-berry will be replaced by peach & papaya.
Reformulation will mean a “slightly thinner and lighter” drink, with less than 100 calories per 275ml bottle,
maker Britvic said. Currently, orange & passion fruit is 132 calories per bottle.
The J2O bottle, meanwhile, is to be given a more contemporary feel. It will be the first time the bottle has undergone a cosmetic redesign since the product first launched in 1998.
Britvic commercial director Andrew Boyd said: “We are relaunching J2O next year to help and maintain its position as the most de-sirable soft drink for adults. It’s already a £300m brand, but we think we’ve come up with a formula for continued success.”
Boyd added: “The new formulation has been rigorously tested with consumers, and we’ve been getting really great feedback. By meeting the ever-growing health and wellness agenda, the aim is to give J2O even wider appeal.”
While glitter-berry has been a “great success”, Boyd said it was more suited to “Christmassy-occassions” and will be replaced by peach & papaya in March.
Comment by Jessica Harvey: Here’s to Britvic
There’s certainly lots going on at Britvic. With J20 relaunching with fewer calories and fewer flavour variants, down from six to four (still, stay tuned for its next ‘special’ flavour — Peach & Papaya), the soft drinks giant’s also begun lining up a new premium offering for the brand, ready for a 2012 launch into the trade too.
In the meantime, Fruit Shoot will be getting some new packaging, it seems to me that someone has been paying close attention to what it is that people want and need from soft drinks: something ‘interesting’, something that tastes great and seems both indulgent and health-savvy, something that has packaging which is ergonomically designed.
So, there’s definitely been a refocus on what it is that consumers want from their drinks over at Britvic and, it couldn’t have come sooner. I for one think the on-trade is ready for some exciting non-alcoholic alternatives to standard juices and colas.
But, if you’re worried that this is just another campaign where the consumers of bottles are being pandered to, think again, because the chaps looking after Pepsi are set to focus all of their attention on draught serves in pubs next year, hoping to show publicans how they can improve their margins.
We love these kinds of thoughtful gestures. Keep up the good work, Britvic!