>>A monthly look at the most promising newcomers in key grocery categories. This month: household cleaning

n Scottish Courage and Interbrew are rowing over extreme summer discounting in the supermarkets following deals in which a bottle of beer was sold for less than a soft drink.
Lever Fabergé’s confidence when it launched its new fabric conditioner Comfort Fast Dry last summer has been justified.
Designed to help clothes dry faster than they do with rival products, the detergent giant’s premium offering has emerged as the most successful household launch in the last year.
Comfort Fast Dry, backed by a £7m marketing push, reached a peak of 89% distribution of all possible outlets last November, according to figures from ACNielsen.
This figure has stayed above 85% ever since, with more than 8% of consumers in ACNielsen’s panel trying the product and an impressive 37% going back for a second purchase.
Procter & Gamble’s Flash Power Mop, which carries its own detergent in a dispenser, has also fared well distribution-wise and is now available in 78% of all possible outlets.
The proportion of consumers trying the product is less than 1%, but nearly 16% of these go back for more.
Other products to have made a mark in the last 12 months include Reckitt Benckiser’s New Finish Protector, which the company claims is the world’s first glass care product that works throughout the cycle.
With only 8% distribution in all possible outlets at the beginning of the year, this figure has now risen to 73% although trial and re-purchase figures are lagging behind at only 0.3% and 4% respectively.

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