Waitrose to slash Minute Maid

Waitrose is on the verge of axing half of the Coca-Cola Minute Maid juice brand variants that it stocks due to flagging sales.

The supermarket is mulling over whether to delist Minute Maid’s orange juice and raspberry with zinc as well as its peach variants.

Waitrose also stocks the brand’s pure squeezed smooth orange juice and its pure squeezed orange juice with juicy bits. It is not known if it plans to axe these varieties.

Waitrose delisted Minute Maid’s vitamin-enriched versions towards the end of last year and replaced them with the two variants it is now also considering ditching.

One insider says: “I don’t think Coca-Cola markets this product category very well and it has too wide a brand portfolio to do it any justice.

“Its core focus is still carbonated drinks. Other companies market either juice or have smaller product ranges to emphasise the juice category more.”

The news will come as a blow to Coca-Cola which is relaunching Minute Maid in response to poor sales.

The revamp is being undertaken to enable the brand to better compete with arch-rival Tropicana and supermarket own-label juices. However, Coca-Cola tried to relaunch Minute Maid in 2005, but the £5m initiative failed to revive sales.

It is understood that Sainsbury’s no longer lists the brand after initially delisting its one-litre carafes. It is not known if Tesco is looking to delist the juice.