Coors Brewers didn't do things by half measures when it developed Carling C2. At 2% abv, the drink has a much lower alcohol content than rivals Beck's Vier and Bud Silver but has won consumers over with a taste that stays true to the Carling brand.

The drink has already been successful in the on-trade among people conscious about drinking and driving and those wanting to avoid a Saturday morning hangover, and it looks likely to attract a new type of drinker in the off-trade as well.

It was launched into the off-trade three months ago with a £2m support package.

Coors said the drink took years to create as it needed to establish the technology to ensure C2 maintained the taste of a fuller-strength beer, but without the alcohol. It looks like it got the timing just right as its launch coincided with increased interest from retailers, all fighting to be the first to meet the growing consumer demand for lower alcohol products.

In a category where NPD is dominated not by innovation but by whether it can be poured over ice, C2 has a true point of difference.

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