Wholesale Manager headed to United Wholesale, Rainham to speak to Stephen Curran, Business Unit Director – Wholesale, AG Barr.
To watch the video interview, go to wholesalemanager.co.uk
What are you doing here today?
We are here today as we come to a really important time for the soft drinks category, a category worth £15 billion and growing. We want to make sure we are connecting with our customers ahead of summer, which is a key seasonal sales period.
Worth £5bn, carbonates is the biggest segment within soft drinks, with sales up by +3.7%.
While cola remains the biggest flavour, it is OFC Carbonates, which are spearheading the growth, with sales up by +5.6%.
How are you driving growth on IRN BRU?
The iconic IRN-BRU brand is the third largest carbonate brand in the UK and the brand has recently refreshed its look and feel as well as implementing a product name change to better align with shopper expectations in the category.
The fast-growing XTRA variant will become ‘ZERO’ to better communicate the extra IRN-BRU taste with zero sugar proposition and align with wider category expectations.
With low-calorie carbonates accounting for 50% of category sales and growing +50% faster than higher calorie equivalents, this clearer name places IRN-BRU in the best possible position to drive sales and profits.
Performing strongly in consumer testing, with purchase intent up by +13% for the new designs, the new look highlights the brand’s remarkably distinctive brand assets, namely the iconic strongman insignia, ‘Made in Scotland from Girders’ strapline, and – of course – its unmistakable orange.
We have recently launched IRN BRU Ice Cream flavour as a permanent addition to the IRN-BRU ZERO range. This month, we have also rolled out IRN-BRU Cherry ZERO as an S&I channel exclusive. We are making sure we are backing the wholesale and symbol & independent channel with flavour exclusives on iconic brands such as IRN-BRU.
What activity do you have on Rubicon?
Rubicon is the UK’s number one exotic juice drinks brand, with its mission to bring big flavour behaviour to the wholesale and symbol & independent channel. We are backing this through innovation with the recent launch of Rubicon Sparkling Cherry and Tropical variants, with Rubicon Sparkling in 63% growth. Similar to our IRN-BRU brand, we have also had a brand refresh that we are investing behind and following through into wholesale.
How is Boost performing?
Our Boost brand has continued to go from strength to strength and it is a really important brand for the wholesale and symbol & independent channel. We have supercharged this recently with new flavour extensions on our 250ml can range. And of course not forgetting our innovation that is coming through on Boost Water + that we launched in December last year. This has proven to be incredibly successful driven by its value proposition, giving accessibility for shoppers to the electrolytes and water plus market. Boost Water+ is delivering 100% of the flavoured water growth to symbol & independent retailers in the marketplace.
What are the key trends driving growth in the soft drinks category?
Innovation and flavour are the key trends that are driving growth in the soft drinks category in this channel. Over 80% of the growth and 51% of flavour extensions came from innovation in the last year. AG Barr are really backing this, from our Stephen Curran Business Unit Director – Wholesale, AG Barr channel exclusive on Boost Water+ and our channel exclusive on IRN BRU Cherry Zero, allowing this channel to really capture those growth opportunities.
Do you have PMPs?
Part of our PMP strategy includes making sure they are available across our range. In a cost-of-living crisis, the value message on-pack is absolutely critical to driving growth in this channel and into symbol & independent retail. And of course we are supporting this through in-depot execution, making sure we are calling out all the right messages and signposting to wholesalers. But we are also following this through into symbol & independent retailers through the support of our field sales teams, making sure that it is flowing through from the depot floor into the retail store.
How does AG Barr support the wholesale channel?
AG Barr’s breadth of our range allows us to make sure we are working with local wholesalers to understand the range that is right for them, to drive the biggest and best growth opportunities.
To summarise how AG Barr is supporting wholesale, we have three core pillars: our innovation and channel exclusives, our price marked pack and value strategy, and working regionally to make sure we have got the right range in those local wholesalers to drive growth opportunities for everyone.
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