The team that masterminded Green & Black's meteoric rise is injecting a six-figure investment into ambient apple juice company Cawston Vale to bring some upmarket appeal to the ambient juice fixture.

It has revamped the packaging, renamed the range Cawston Press and plans to invest heavily in fresh NPD and marketing next year in a bid to transform it from a £1.5m to a £10m-plus brand in three years.

"In the cluttered market of the ambient aisle an area that tends to be filled with similar-looking own-label products, with the majority made from fruit concentrates we needed a pack design that could shout above the crowd, bringing some much-needed news of premium branded innovation to the neglected ambient fixture," said marketing director Mark Palmer, former CEO of The New Covent Garden Soup Company and a former director of Green & Black's.

The revamped five-strong range will roll out to Waitrose, Ocado, Booths and speciality food stores from January and would stand out particularly well in c-stores, said Palmer. 

The Tetra Pak cartons (rsp: £1.79 for 1 litre) also compared favourably in price to more expensive chilled fruit juices, he added, and would appeal to cash-strapped consumers who found chilled juices and smoothies too expensive as well as health-conscious adults looking for a high-quality product.

The company, which was established in 1986, would invest in NPD and marketing activity throughout 2010, he said.

"The consumer impression has been that all the innovation and quality is limited to the chiller cabinet so our marketing will seek to educate consumers about the quality of Cawston Press.

"We plan on launching a smaller on-the-go range in April as well as extending the number of flavours in the core range."

Palmer and two other former Green & Black's directors, William Kendall and Nick Beart, engineered the chocolate company's sale to Cadbury for about £30m in 2005 and joined the Cawston board in April this year.