US: Tropicana releasing fruit and vegetable juice range
The marketing for the new juice is going to focus on a message to parents that they can subtly sneak more vegetables into their childrens' diets.
The juice will be sold fresh, not pasteurised and will, therefore, be marketed in the refrigerated section of the supermarkets.
Although the nutritional benefits don’t differ from pasteurised juices, Tropicana’s chief marketing officer Memo Maquivar said the refrigerated aspect of Farmstand will be a critical differentiator.
“Chilled is very important — it signals high quality, it signals premium, it signals freshness,” he said.
The rollout of Tropicana Farmstand comes as consumption of pure fruit juice has declined 6 percent over the past five years, according to market research company Euromonitor International.
The juice will début in Walmart and will expand into other supermarkets next year. Tropicana plan on spending between $20 and $30 million on advertising the new product, with tag lines such as "Turn Your Kids Into Veggie Lovers."
The first three Farmstand flavors emphasize the fruit content — strawberry banana, peach mango and pomegranate blueberry, as the company is being cautious not to overplay the vegetable content, as this may initially be unappealing to children. The bottles prominently feature images of fruit, while the vegetables are tucked behind the logo.
As for the taste, it took about eight months to come up with the right blend of juices that “hide the vegetables as much as possible,” said Kathy Timperman, product development manager at PepsiCo Inc.
Early on, Timperman said Tropicana tested a variety of vegetables, including cucumbers, zucchinis, tomatoes and purple carrots. She noted those could still turn up in future flavors but that the company is sticking with beets, sweet potatoes and yellow and orange carrots for now.
Tropicana Farmstand will also have a thinner consistency more akin to regular orange juice, unlike the thicker, premium fruit-and-vegetable juices such as Naked and Bolthouse Farms, which are marketed to health-conscious adults on the go.
Source: washingtonpost.com
