Efforts to turn around Tropicana Brands Group have succeeded in halting a fall in sales at the group’s core UK business.
Another year of “consolidation” following its 2023 separation from PepsiCo saw the struggling juice, smoothie and waters group slash its number of SKUs and strip out “distracting” new product development to focus on core products, according to UK MD Andy Riddle.
Volumes fell slightly in the UK as a result of the portfolio reduction and higher pricing necessitated by elevated fruit prices, but sales in the country steadied at £167.2m for the year to 31 December 2025.
“The core business is big, and we need to focus on getting it right first,” Riddle told The Grocer.
“We stripped back some of the innovation that had been put in, and was actually distracting – requiring resource deployment that would be better served on getting the core business in shape. Taking responsibility for that first and foremost was critical.”
He added certain products might be reintroduced in due course, selectively and “based on consumer insight”. Some targeted NPD had helped grow sales, however, as the coconut-based Tropicana Hydrate landed on shelves just before the UK’s sustained hot summer got underway in what Riddle called a “fortuitous” bit of timing.
“The on-the-go product at the front of stores is performing very well, so we’re really pleased.”
Despite the UK business’ stabilisation, a £21.3m drop in sales contributed by the group’s European businesses knocked overall group revenues down by 8.5% to £246.8m. European sales came in at £79.5m, falling back below their 2023 level of £82.2m after spiking in 2024.
But the steady progress on the UK entity has begun to bear fruit in 2026, according to Riddle.
From a slight decline in volumes in 2025, the Tropicana brand registered a 10% uplift thus far in 2026, according to Circana data for 1 January 2026 to 29 August 2026. The category as a whole grew 5.5% in that period.
“We’re helping bring consumers back into the category, and we’re really pleased with the way customers are working with us,” Riddle said. “It’s was important for us to get the core Tropicana brand firing again.”
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