A Grocer columnist and a Top New Talent of 2015 have won listings in 400 Tesco stores for their range of high-end cocktail mixers.
Muddle & Mash was created by columnist Claire Nuttall, founder of The Brand Incubator, and award-winner Louise Lloyd, founder of Popcorn PR, as a premium alternative to cocktail mixers such as Funkin’.
The four-strong line comes in 750ml glass bottles (rsp: £2.99), in Tesco now, and 220ml glass bottles (rsp: £1.99 in mainstream retailers). The smaller bottles have enough space in the neck for 50ml of spirits to be added, allowing the drink to be shaken and drunk from the bottle with a straw.
Flavours comprise Green Tea & Mint Mojito, Strawberry & Elderflower Daiquiri, Coco Berry Cosmopolitan, and Passionfruit Pornstar Martini.
Each recipe contains only fruit and natural flavourings, and a 220ml serving contains fewer than 120 calories, which Nuttall said was lower than competitor products. “Young females want their calorie allowance to come from the alcohol, not the mixer,” said Nuttall. “This has been key in our development, alongside achieving a less sweet and more natural flavour profile.”
Nuttall said the packaging had been designed to look “credible and grown-up” so that people looking for a soft drink would not feel out of place around others drinking alcohol.
“Each flavour has a note that makes it more adult and more premium - for example, elderflower - like the finishing note you’d get from a cocktail in a high end bar. We wanted this to be something that’s a bit different, but not so strange that people start to worry about how it will taste.”
Muddle & Mash is also available in 220ml PET bottles, aimed at outlets such as airlines and festivals. Thompson and First Choice holidays will be the first to offer the brand on flights, from next month.
The adult soft drinks category grew 5.8% last year to £188.7m, on volumes up 3.5% [Kantar 52 w/e 11 October 2015].
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