Ice manufacturer The Ice Co has expanded into the alcoholic drinks market with a range of frozen cocktails.
The Yorkshire-based business is rolling out the Ice & Easy range to 630 Tesco stores next week in 250ml pouches (rsp: £2.50) in four 5% abv flavours - Mojito, Margarita, Pina Colada and Strawberry Daiquiri.
Frozen cocktails are a growing part of the drinks market, with sales of Diageo’s Parrot Bay brand doubling year on year to £6m [Nielsen 52 w/e 14 October 2014]. While Diageo has pushed freezers as secondary siting for Parrot Bay, such products are typically sold from an ambient fixture to be frozen at home. Ice & Easy is distributed frozen through the same distribution chain as The Ice Co’s cubes and crushed ice, and sold frozen.
“Being purchased from the freezer ready to drink gives the consumer the choice to enjoy straight away, or to keep frozen for another time,” said MD Polly Marr. “Given the strong relationship between ice and alcohol, a frozen alcoholic range is a natural progression for us, and Ice & Easy gives us an opportunity to have a presence in a new, developing and exciting market.”
The Ice Co, which last year received The Grocer Gold Award for Exporter of the Year, has invested in a production line to produce the range and is looking at further investment to increase output.
Previous NPD from the business has included Super Cubes that are three times larger than a normal cube and claimed to melt more slowly, and Ice & Slice combining ice cubes with frozen fruit.
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