The Grocer – 24 August 2019

buying & supplying drinks

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 24 August 2019 | The Grocer | 33

acid test

Heinz Gourmet Ketchup:

Roasted Garlic

Who: Kraft Heinz

What: Heinz Gourmet Ketchup: Roasted Garlic &

Sundried Tomato

Where: Table sauces

How much: £2.19 for 253ml

Why: With its core Tomato Ketchup’s value hav-

ing slipped by 4.6% [Nielsen 52 w/e 8 September

2019], Heinz moved this summer to recoup that

near-£5m loss with the premium Gourmet trio. It

promises “the familiar, much-loved taste of Heinz

Tomato Ketchup with an adventurous twist”,

while this variant has “the sweet subtlety of

roasted garlic” according to its maker.

Consumer verdict: The initial response from shop-

pers was largely positive, but purchase intent fell

considerably following testing. The main sticking

point was a perceived lack of value for money. The

product was described as “very pricey” and “on

the expensive side”. There were also complaints

about the sauce being “too thick”, “very sweet”

and “too garlicky”. Nevertheless, it scored above

the norm for taste, aroma and packaging, with

praise for the “very appealing fl avour”, “good

consistency” and the potential to “complement

many meals”.

Pre-trial purchase: 42%

Post-trial purchase: 19%

Better than what’s out there: 57%

New and diff erent: 83%

34/50

Overall score

Fast Foodfax has been undertaking consumer assessments of

new products for more than 30 years, comparing the results

against a database of more than 20,000 products across 130-

plus categories of food and drink. Objective, impartial and totally

independent, it is prepared by Cambridge Market Research Ltd.

Tel: 01223 492050 Visit http://www.cambridgemr.com

For the full Fast Foodfax report on this product

visit: thegrocer.co.uk/acidtest

Daniel Woolfson
AB InBev could be
poised to bring its ‘hard
tea’ brand Wandering
Whistler to the UK.
The brewing giant
applied to register a
trademark for Wandering
Whistler, which is cur-
rently only availa-
ble in the US, with the
Intellectual Property
Offi ce this week.
The brand calls its
drinks “craft -brewed
alcohol teas”, which are
made by adding sugar
and yeast to tea and fer-
menting the mixture,
before adding more tea
and ‘botanicals’.
Flavours unveiled in
the US so far include
Jasmine, Chai and Earl
Grey (both 4.5% abv).
A spokeswoman for AB

AB InBev trademark

hints at UK debut for

brewer’s ‘hard tea’

InBev played down the

potential for a UK launch,

saying there were “no

current plans” and that

the applying to regis-

ter the trademark was

“standard procedure”.

But it comes amid a

growing vogue for ‘hard’

versions of soft drinks

and drinks that blur the

boundaries between

alcohol and other catego-

ries that has seen major

suppliers enter the fray.

Kopparberg, for

instance, was one of the

fi rst big booze brands to

launch an ‘aqua spritz’

(in essence, a boozy

sparkling water) called

Balanz in January, while

Molson Coors recently

went in the opposite

direction, launching a

hopped sparkling water

called Wellraiser earlier

this month.

AB InBev – or

Budweiser Brewing

Group, as it is now

known in the UK – has

too been experiment-

ing beyond beer with

its growing innovation

arm, ZX Ventures: last

month saw it launch an

RTD orange spritz brand,

called ‘Sincerely Sabella’,

into Ocado and indies.

Wandering Whistler tea is

only available in the US

Dark and golden variants
will roll out at 40% abv

Aldi has launched a new
own-label rum brand.
Crossbones, which
enters stores on 22
August as part of the Aldi
Spirits Festival, features
two limited-release pre-
mium rums in dark and
golden variants (rsp:

Crossbones added to

Aldi spirits lineup

£14.99/70cl). The dis-

counter is billing it as a

“fi nest mix of young and

older rums, aged in oak

casks”. Both lines carry

an abv of 40%.

The new drink will

join the retailer’s lim-

ited-release gin ranges

Greyson’s and The

Infusionist, which will

also be bolstered with

NPD for the festival.

Rhubarb & Bramble

Gin (rsp: £15.99/70cl)

will join the Greyson’s

range , while Mystical

Unicorn Gin Liqueur

(rsp:£9.99/50cl), joins

The Infusionist lineup.

Diageo is boosting its

range of Game of Thrones

whiskies with two new

Johnnie Walker variants.

The whiskies – A Song

of Ice (40.2% abv) and A

Song of Fire (40.8%) –

will launch via Amazon

in September, followed

by a wider UK rollout in

October (rsp: £34/70cl).

The former fea-

tures single malts from

Clynelish Distillery and

“exudes a crisp, clean

taste” while the lat-

ter boasted “ fl avours of

subtle smoke from the

peated malts of Caol Ila

Distillery”, said Diageo.

Diageo adds

pair of new

GoT whiskies