Vimto maker on sugar detox

NICHOLS, the North West drinks specialist best known for its Vimto brand, is gearing up for the relaunch of sugar free brands this summer.

The Newton-le-Willows company said in a trading update that conditions within the UK grocery market remain challenging.

However, its UK revenues are benefiting from the acquisition of both The Noisy Drinks Company Limited, of which it bought the remaining equity in January 2016, and the Feel Good brand acquired in July 2015.

This year the company has also launched Vimto Remix, adding new  flavours to the Vimto range.

“As with all of our new product introductions in recent years, Remix is only available in no added sugar options,” it said – a response to the Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget announcement last month of plans to raise £530m in tax on the sugar content of soft drinks.

From April 2018, soft drinks companies will pay a levy on drinks with added sugar. This will apply to drinks with total sugar content above 5 grams per 100 millilitres, with a higher rate for more than 8 grams per 100 millilitres, but it won’t need to be paid on milk-based drinks or fruit juices.

In the same vein, the company is preparing for the summer re-launch of its Feel Good brand, a range of premium adult juice drinks which have no added sugar and contain 100% natural ingredients.

Nichols concluded that trading for the year so far was as expected and that it expects to deliver full year earnings in line with market expectations.