Vitamin Fix drink

A ‘disgusting-tasting’ Aussie vitamin drink is raising its UK profile with a listing in Selfridges.

Vitamin Fix, rolling into the retailer’s stores next week, contains a blend of 12 vitamins and eight minerals in a 150ml single shot (rsp: £1.90-£2.30). Each drink provided up to 200% of an adult RDA, said the supplier. The drinks, which have no added sugar and contain 42.3 calories, recently rolled into WH Smith transit stores.

Designed to quickly restore health and vitality, the liquid format ensured “much quicker absorption and cellular take-up rate” than traditional vitamin tablets, said company founder Austin Simms, adding the drink had proven a success in its homeland, where it had secured listings across grocery retailers since launch in 2013.

In an unusual twist, the business is promoting its product as having a ‘disgusting taste’, urging people to “consume it quickly”. Its website also features phrases such as ‘What the hell have you done to my tongue?’ and ‘Recommended by nutritionists. Until they taste it.’ The yellow-labelled bottles feature the words “Shake Well. Drink Fast”.

“We’ve taken a typically frank and humorous Aussie approach to our marketing, but the product is answering a serious need,” said Simms. “Our customers know only too well that they should maintain healthy levels of vitamin and mineral intake but most of the time they’re just too busy and let these things slip. Swigging on a chilled bottle of Vitamin Fix removes all the hassle and lets them quickly feel disgustingly healthy.”

Simms said the business had chosen the UK for its first international foray as it believed its Antipodean humour would resonate well with Brits.