Vladivar gambles on cocktail growth

Whyte and Mackay, the spirits group formerly known as Kyndal, is
launching a new ready-to-drink vodka-based drink onto the UK market
- a major gamble at a time when RTD sales are starting to decline
and where only truly innovative products are likely to survive,
writes Chris Jones.

The range of ready-to-drink cocktails comes under Whyte and Mackay's Vladivar vodka brand, and the company hopes to give further momentum to what is already the UK's fastest selling vodka brand (according to AC Nielsen data). The joint venture with Independent Distillers, itself a producer of RTDs, will focus on four products launched in two steps - Vladivar White Russian, Vladivar Black Russian, Vladivar Cosmopolitan and Vladivar Sea Breeze.

According to Fiona Kennie, brand manager for Vladivar, the new products will also capitalise on growing interest among UK consumers for cocktails, "The Vladivar range will capitalise on the huge opportunity we are already seeing in cocktails by offering a new degree of sophistication to the premium packaged spirit (PPS) consumer - a cold, ready-to-drink cocktail direct from the fridge."

"For the consumer it offers an immediate response to a cocktail request and for bars it represents a profit opportunity with the added bonus of providing a credible alternative to cocktail mixing at key peak times. It also enables cocktail enjoyment at home."

Vladivar White Russian, a mix of Vladivar and coffee cream liqueur blended with a base of whole dairy milk, and Vladivar Black Russian, a blend of coffee liqueur, cola and Vladivar, will be the first two to be launched. Pre-mixed in 270ml and 275 ml bottles, both will be available in the on-trade from mid-April with an RSP of £1.50-£2.50.

Vladivar Cosmopolitan - a blend of cranberry, lemon, Vladivar and Triple Sec - and Vladivar Seabreeze - a premix of cranberry, grapefruit and Vladivar - will be available to the on-trade from May and will be sold in 275ml bottles with an RSP of £1.50-£2.50.

"The ready-to-drink market may currently be in decline, but it is still a strong and valuable category," said Kennie. "By capitalising on the untapped ready-to-drink cocktail opportunity, the credibility of the Vladivar brand and product innovation we believe the Vladivar cocktail range will add value to the mother brand."

The decision to focus on recognisable cocktail names could prove key to the success of the Vladivar range. Vodka-based premixes are widespread, but most have followed broad the Smirnoff Ice formula - vodka flavoured with fruit juice or mixed with energy drinks - with varying levels of success.

The growing popularity of Vladivar (sales grew 67 per cent over Christmas 2003 compared to 11 per cent for Smirnoff, according to AC Nielsen, helped by substantial marketing investment) would probably have helped the company to solid sales for its RTD variant even if it had decided to follow this same path (as the solid but not particularly spectacular performance of the existing Vladivar premix, Veba, clearly shows) but the combination of the Vladivar name and image with the cocktail approach should give it an additional edge.

As we reported last month, there is a growing interest in the cocktail market in the UK, but the problem for has always been that cocktails are so difficult to make and are relatively expensive. The RTD variants produced by Vladivar should address both these concerns, and has the added advantage of being easy to consume at home - where the sheer number of ingredients necessary to make cocktails can put consumers off.