Dry weather in Sicily has forced Tropicana to withdraw its blood orange juice from supermarkets and it is adding two new flavours to compensate.

Unforeseen drought conditions in the land surrounding Mount Etna have spoiled the quality of this year's harvest of blood oranges, prompting the PepsiCo brand to temporarily delist its Tropicana Sanguinello juice.

The drink was part of the brand's super-premium Gold label range of juices, launched in February as a luxury evening treat rather than a breakfast juice, but Tropicana claims the quality of the fruit wasn't high enough this year.

It will be running advertisements in retailer in-store magazines to communicate the withdrawal and a message will also appear on existing cartons of Sanguinello with the line: 'Time is running out for our Sanguinello juice'.

"Like all naturally grown products, oranges can be impacted by the climate," said Ben Curtis, marketing manager. "The unforeseen impact on the blood orange harvest this season has meant the quality of the fruit being produced is not of the standard we require."

However, the new Handpicked Mandarin & Pressed White Grape (rsp: 2.49) will be added to the Gold Label range, and Tropicana said it would it meet a gap in the UK market for a premium mandarin product. In addition, an Orange & Peach flavour (rsp: £1.95) will be added to Tropicana's Pure Premium range, lining up alongside Mango, Peach & Papaya, which is currently the range's best selling flavour.

"Consumers are increasingly looking for a greater choice of flavours to drink beyond breakfast," said David Johnston, MD. "We are the best at blending fruit juices to create great-tasting and innovative variants and we continually invest in our portfolio. The new core flavours and Gold Label range launched earlier this year have contributed 40% and 35% of incremental sales respectively . These latest additions will provide retailers with an even greater opportunity to tap into this demand."