Boost Drinks launches long-shelf-life smoothie

Boost Drinks, the independent manufacturer, is launching a smoothie in a bid to exploit growing consumer interest in the category.

The seven-year old company, which already has aline of functional drinks, including Boost Energy and caffeine energy drink Boost Sport, will launch Boost Smoothie this summer.

It will be available on the ambient grocery aisles, rather than as a chilled product, although it is understood that it will be supported by an ad campaign with the theme “fuelled by nature”. It is understood there will be two flavour variants.

The company says the main point of difference from its chilled counterparts will be the fact that it has a longer shelf life and does not require refrigeration.

Boost managing director Simon Gray says: “The UK smoothie market is forecast to grow by an estimated 160%, which is a fantastic opportunity for retailers.

“There is a growing trend for smoothies amongst consumers with an insatiable demand for a convenient and nutritious way to help meet the five-a-day requirement.”

Boost Smoothie will be distributed by independent retailers, convenience stores, forecourts, off-licenses and through wholesale.

The latest Britvic Soft Drink Report conducted by Nielsen shows that the smoothie market was the fastest- growing sub-category within the take-home soft drinks sector, growing by 31% in value last year. Sales totaled £214m, with Innocent taking the majority with 66%, growing its sales by 47%.

This year, PepsiCo’s juice brand Tropicana moved into the smoothie market, launching Tropicana Smoothies, while the company also repositioned its PJ Smoothies brand (MW January 31).