Arla Foods is ditching its Cravendale Hint Of flavoured milk after two years and replacing it with a new half-pint brand.

Arla originally launched Hint Of in a one-litre format, which it was forced to scrap after a year when sales fell below expectations. It later began testing a 284ml bottle size for Hint Of, but it has now scrapped the brand, using the smaller size as the format for Half Pint.

Half Pint was more in line with consumer needs for health and convenience and should appeal to a wider audience, said Arla.

The company will position the brand as a healthy school lunchbox beverage or as an after school refreshment. The brand will also be targeted at gym goers, following research conducted by Loughborough University, which found milk was more isotonic than water.

Half Pint, which launches at the end of this month, will come in three varieties - pure filtered semi-skimmed milk, milk & banana and milk & strawberry. The drinks contain real fruit extracts and no additives or preservatives.

"Milk is an important part of consumers' everyday life," said Cravendale brand manger Alex Glen. "As well as being a shopping basket staple, milk can also be enjoyed as a fresh drink on the go. With Half Pint we want to give consumers the option of drinking naturally-flavoured milk with the purity of Cravendale.

"Mums can also feel confident they are giving their kids a healthy drink."

The new brand will form a major part of Cravendale's £10m advertising spend next year. Products come as singles or in multipacks of six bottles, priced at 45p and £1.48 respectively.

Cravendale underwent an £8m relaunch in April this year, which included advertising to encourage consumers to switch from standard to filtered milk.

The brand is growing at 114% year-on-year and is valued at £97m, according to IRI [52 w/e Sept 2007].


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