Heineken invests in its core cider brands with on-trade initiatives
CIDER has been a major focus for Heineken this year.
The company, which owns the Strongbow, Bulmers and Old Mout cider brands, has introduced a new font for Strongbow as well as a website to help licensees grow sales of its packaged brands.
The new dual font pours both Strongbow Original and Strongbow Dark Fruit and is in the shape of the Strongbow harp. It features gold and purple LED lights, to match the brand colours of the Original and Dark Fruit ciders.
The font, which was introduced in August, comes after research commissioned by Heineken found that venues which stock both Strongbow and Strongbow Dark Fruit can increase rate of sale by up to 44%.
Heineken claims the two variants jointly account for 35% of the overall value of the UK cider market, and 39% of the overall volume.
Jerry Shedden, category and trade marketing director at Heineken, said: “It’s really simple – stock the UK’s two most famous ciders side-by-side and you will increase your sales and put more money in your tills.
“Strongbow Dark Fruit’s meteoric rise is all the more impressive given it was only launched five years ago.
“It signalled a step-change in the category, delivering 70% incremental volume to the cider category, helping to grow our customers’ businesses.
“It’s clear that there is a huge thirst for mainstream apple cider and draught fruit cider – so we urge outlets not to miss out on this golden opportunity.”
Meanwhile, Heineken is backing its Bulmers and Old Mout brands with the launch of the Cider Direct website.
The site contains a range of downloadable materials for licensees, including menus, tent cards, calendars and posters, which can be purchased, as well as imagery that can be downloaded for free for operators to use on their venues’ social media channels.
