Spar enters own-label cola market

The Spar retail group joins Sainsbury’s and Safeway as the latest grocery chain to launch an own-label cola, using syrup supplied by Canadian company Cott Europe.

Spar American Cola, will be launched on July 4 (US Independence Day) in the UK and, unlike other own-label colas, will roll out across Europe this summer.

“We are launching into the premium cola market, which is worth 430m in the UK. We’re selling a product which in taste tests has proved to be as good as, if not better than, the brand leaders,” says Spar marketing controller Neil Henry.

The day before the launch, Spar will launch a 2m national TV corporate branding campaign through its agency, Tenet. The campaign will be a departure from the group’s normal product-led TV advertising.

Cott Europe, which has a factory in Yorkshire, has transformed the own-label cola market over the past year by supplying syrup of a similar quality to brand leaders Coca-Cola and Pepsi. It supplies syrup for own-label colas to Virgin, Sainsbury’s and Safeway.