Coke plans 5 Alive rival to Fruit Shoot

Coca-Cola is launching a juice drink called 5 Alive Whirl, to take on Robinson’s Fruit Shoot range in the children’s lunchbox drinks market.

5 Alive Whirl, which sits under the 5 Alive umbrella brand, will be available in two flavours, Berry Whirl and Citrus Whirl. It will be packaged in colourful 250ml plastic bottles with sports caps. Britvic Soft Drinks’ Robinson’s Fruit Shoot comes in 300ml bottles, also with a sports cap.

Coca-Cola wants 5 Alive Whirl to appeal to mothers, who are increasingly aware of the health issues surrounding sugary products. The drink contains no added sugar or artificial colour. The label will highlight the ten per cent juice content.

Robinson’s Fruit Shoot dominates the lunchbox market after taking the top slot in the sector from Ribena last year. Fruit Shoots value for the year ending in March was &£65.8m, up 5.7 per cent on the previous year.

Coca-Cola bought 5 Alive from Cadbury Schweppes in 1999. The core brand was reformulated and relaunched in 2002, backed with a print and outdoor advertising campaign created by Soul, with the strapline “Come alive with the blend of 5”. Retail sales of the brand were worth &£16.5m last year (AC Nielsen).

Last year, a dilutable 5 Alive variant was introduced, to compete with Robinson’s squash ranges (MW November 20, 2003).