With shoppers looking for unique flavours in convenient packaging formats, Rubicon meets this demand in spades.
The brand is a must stock over the summer months, a period when nearly twice as many shoppers search for ‘exotic’ drinks compared to the monthly average.
Rubicon continues to introduce new, innovative flavours to the soft drinks category, the latest of which is Rubicon Sparkling Rose Lemonade.
Adrian Troy, Marketing Director at Barr Soft Drinks, tells Wholesale Manager about the return of the brand’s ‘Made of Different Stuff’ campaign, which will see a £4 million investment across a range of media channels and events.
How much is the soft drinks category worth and what is the household penetration of soft drinks? Is the category in growth? What is driving the growth?
The UK’s soft drinks category is worth £10.9 billion and is growing at +8.6%1. It remains one of the most profitable and vibrant categories for the wholesale channel. By stocking a range of quality, trusted brands from Barr Soft Drinks, wholesalers will be well-placed to capitalise on the opportunity to generate incremental sales in the coming months.
Flavoured carbonates, including fast-growing Rubicon Sparkling, are the category’s star performer – last summer it recorded the biggest subcategory uplift in soft drinks, growing +55%2 in retail.
Taste remains the No.1 consideration in soft drinks purchasing. As consumers look for new and interesting tastes, we expect to see even more unique flavour innovation.
What consumer trends are currently influencing the soft market?
2023 really is the year of flavours. Consumers are still coming out of post pandemic behaviours and are increasingly wanting to be stimulated by bigger, bolder experiences. This is a mega trend across all sorts of categories within FMCG and beyond. In soft drinks, this is all about seeking more interesting, bolder and less run-of-the-mill flavours. Something that excites the taste buds.
Post pandemic, health and wellbeing continue to have more influence on consumers’ purchasing decisions. Demand for lower calorie products continues to increase and flavoured water is growing in popularity.
Offering a good choice of low-calorie products which don’t compromise on flavour, taste or value, such as Rubicon Spring, will also enable wholesalers to tap into this incremental sales opportunity.
As cost of living concerns increase, shoppers are spending more money on in-home occasions. Larger pack formats and multipacks will play an increasingly important role, as people look for more opportunities to socialise with family and friends around key calendar dates and occasions, particularly in the warmer months. Wholesalers can maximise sales from this trend by refocusing their soft drinks range and merchandising strategy, looking at exciting flavours and bigger packs from trusted brands.
How much is Rubicon worth?
Rubicon is one of the growth stars of the soft drinks market, with retail sales of £74m, up 18% in the last year3.
How much of an uplift in sales does Rubicon experience over the Summer months and how can wholesalers best be prepared for this uplift?
Rubicon is THE brand of summer. With nearly twice as many shoppers searching for ‘exotic’ during this period vs. the monthly average4, Rubicon really is a must stock over the summer months.
Much of the brand’s ongoing success and growth is due to the fact that Rubicon offers convenience retailers and their customers a winning combination.
Shoppers are driven by exciting and more imaginative flavour choices and value – attributes synonymous with Rubicon.
What sub brands does Rubicon have and what do they each bring to the category?
Rubicon continues to go from strength to strength in convenience, offering retailers something different in the fixture that their shoppers love. We know unique flavours in convenient packaging formats appeal to shoppers, which is something we offer across our Rubicon portfolio.
Rubicon Sparkling
The UK’s No.1 exotic carbonates brand5, Rubicon Sparkling is successfully making exotic flavoured carbonates mainstream. It boosted the category in the convenience channel by half a million pounds in the last year alone5 .
Rubicon Spring
Ten times bigger than its nearest competitor, Rubicon Spring is the UK’s No.1 flavoured sparkling water6. More than half of flavoured sparkling water growth was driven by Rubicon Spring, reinforcing the brand’s status as KEY growth driver6.
In addition, Rubicon Spring has added +£1m RSV during the last year in convenience, 22 times more than the nearest branded competitor in the same channel7.
Rubicon Still
Rubicon Still is the UK’s No.1 exotic juice drink brand, growing twice as fast as private label6. The product has added more than £500,000 to the category in the last year making it a must stock range in the channel.
RAW
Rubicon RAW has established itself as a must stock energy brand within the soft drinks category. It has become the third largest flavoured big can energy brand8 and sold more than 23 million cans9 in less than two years.
The brand has been driving incremental sales for retailers and bringing more shoppers into the category. A third of Rubicon RAW sales are from new entrants to energy, whilst 70% of RAW shoppers are making it a repeat purchase10.
The levy free, HFSS compliant range includes four 500ml Big Can Energy Drinks – Raspberry & Blueberry, Orange & Mango, Cherry & Pomegranate and, the latest addition, Apple & Guava.
What new products does Rubicon have to offer?
Rubicon continues to bring new and exciting flavours to the category, the latest being the launch of Rubicon Sparkling Rose Lemonade. Launched in March, the product is available exclusively to the convenience channel in 330ml can (79p) and 500ml PET (£1) price marked packs.
In addition to its unique flavour and stand-out pack design, with Rose Lemonade launched in PMP in the most sought-after pack sizes, we’re confident this latest addition will quickly become a popular purchase as consumers continue to seek out more interesting flavour choices.
We know how important different formats are to driving soft drinks sales, especially within energy where 60% of shoppers are loyal to pack size11. Small can energy is 90% original flavours11, so there was a real opportunity to tap into flavoured energy as it continues to grow as its own category.
In March, we launched our top two flavours of Rubicon RAW in a 250ml format, to give small can energy shoppers more choice and excitement in the chiller. Raspberry & Blueberry and Orange & Mango launched in plain pack and a £1 PMP, with a strategic focus on southern S&I, One Stop, foodservice and on trade.
What marketing activity do you have coming up to support the brand?
Last summer we launched the brand’s ‘Made of Different Stuff’ campaign, reaching over 80% of young consumers and driving an increase in brand buyers of +21% across Rubicon (excluding RAW) last year12. The campaign will be back this year larger and louder, with a £4 million investment across a whole range of media channels and events.
We’ll also be investing a further £3m behind driving consumer engagement and trial on Rubicon RAW.
In November, Rubicon RAW announced a major, four-year national partnership as The Official Energy Drink of GB Snowsport, which has a fan base of 11.8m people in the UK13.
In addition, 2023 will also see the continuation of Rubicon RAW’s partnership with Boardmasters as the official energy drink partner. This includes exclusive pouring behind all festival bars, two huge experiential activations and handing out over 50,000 samples to festival goers.
How can wholesalers maximise sales of your products?
Barr Soft Drinks places great importance on the convenience sector, where retailers understand that their shoppers are increasingly looking for great quality soft drinks from brands they know and trust. Value is also at the forefront of convenience shoppers’ minds.
By stocking and promoting Barr Soft Drinks’ products, our wholesale partners will enable their customers to provide shoppers with brands that really deliver on taste and value, but also provide the choice and innovation which shoppers have come to expect across the soft drinks category.
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