Being named one of the top launches of 2012 by The Grocer has helped a brand land a nationwide listing.

Manflu will be rolling out its Hot or Shot drink - a product designed to help sickly fellas suffering from the sniffles - to 400 Boots stores at the end of January.

The company said the listing was thanks in part to the brand’s Manflu Lozzers lozenges being recognised as the OTC category launch of the year in The Grocer’s Top Products Survey [15 December 2012].

“The story helped keep the brand at the top of the buyer’s mind and, combined with Manflu’s credentials as an innovative product, helped clinch the deal,” said founder Jonathan Evans.

Evans predicted Lozzers would be taken on by the brand’s existing customers, which includes Tesco and Sainsbury’s, and added that further NPD would take the brand into new categories later this year.