Soft focus

30 August, 2016

According to the company it’s all about correctly ensuring a “premium drinking experience”. Customer marketing manager Serena Smith says: “There is nothing worse than a warm soft drink so serving it chilled from the fridge or with ice is essential, together with the correct garnish.

“Most of Belvoir’s drinks would lend themselves to a slice of lemon but there’s nothing wrong in taking your cues from nature and simply adding some more of the natural ingredients used in the individual drinks – a slice of ginger in the Ginger Beer, a raspberry in the Raspberry Lemonade or some lime in the Lime & Lemongrass.

“For drinks such as Belvoir’s, which are all natural, this enhances the ingredients and the taste, but also adds a sense of increased value to the serve.”

Belvoir has branded glasses for customers in the on-trade and encourages bar staff to part-pour the 25cl bottles of Pressé and allow consumers to take the bottle and glass away with them so it remains in the chilled bottle until needed.

“Having the soft drinks range clearly visible is another key to promoting them. Displaying them at eye level in the back bar chillers helps. Many bars make the mistake of storing bottled water in that crucial part of the fridge but it’s a wasted opportunity as people know bars will stock water so it should be used to promote more interesting products.”

Belvoir has worked extensively with mixologist Andy Mil, of the Cocktail Trading Company, and his team to develop a range of cocktails and mocktails that demonstrate the ruses for the drinks and introduces theatre and drama at the bar to make the soft drinks option as exciting as the alcoholic one.

While Belvoir is quintessentially British, the success of its export team (the brand exports to Europe, Scandinavia, the US, Canada, the Middle East and south east Asia

including China, Singapore and Japan) means it is well placed to see and hear about trends that might work well in the UK.

The most recent example of this was the launch, in March, of Organic Dragon Fruit & Raspberry Pressé. Made using sweet organic white dragon fruit juice combined with rich raspberries and crisp redcurrants for a well-rounded, full and fruity flavour, Belvoir says this is unique to the UK market and has been influenced by tastes in the US, where dragon fruit is a popular flavour.

Meanwhile, cedrata – which translates as citrus fruit – is incredibly popular in Italy but organic drinks company Galvanina believes the UK palate is not quite ready for the bitter citrus flavours yet. However, chinotto is now making an appearance at some of Galvanina’s key licensed customers in the UK. The flavour errs on the bittersweet side with the fruit hailing from the myrtle-leaved orange tree. The beverage is dark in colour, similar to cola but nowhere near as sweet.

Galvanina’s best seller in the UK is Sicilian Lemon, closely followed by Sicilian Clementine. Both these varieties use gently sparkling, natural spring water and organic fruit grown in Sicilian orchards.

Again, Galvanina is a brand that’s keen to get is credentials across so it invests heavily in bringing brand spokespeople to sites to discuss the heritage and versatility of the drinks and provide mocktail ideas to bar staff. Further on-trade support comes from marketing material including colourful branded coasters, Italian flag-coloured straws and recipe postcards. Galvanina also sponsors Soho Radio and has a programme where mixologists prepare favourite mocktail recipes for listeners on a weekly basis.





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