The fastest growing traditional RTD in the UK’s off-trade (Nielsen 52 w/e. 30.06.18), VK has unveiled its new flavour.

With a nationwide public search for a new flavour reaching over 6 million consumers across the summer, Watermelon has been crowned the champ.

With more than 33,000 flavour suggestions once the competition opened in June, the four most popular flavours then went out to public vote in July. Relevant influencers each championed one of the final four flavours, Watermelon (Sam Gowland), Raspberry and pineapple (Chloe Ferry), Violet (Lateysha Grace) and Wild Fruits (Josh Ritchie).

With over 35,000 votes cast across social media and the VK official website, Watermelon received over 19,000 of the final votes. Consumers can officially get their hands on the new Watermelon flavour set to be released in February 2019. This will be preceded by a sampling and consumer engagement tour in selected Deltic nightclubs in November.

Jen Draper, head of marketing at Global Brands, said, “Fans of VK have spoken in their thousands and they want Watermelon. Pink drinks are hot right now and our consumers seem to think so too, plus Watermelon is set to be a key flavour trend in 2019. However, it’s not just about the on-trend colour – the taste is so important for VK, and our in-house flavour development team has been working tirelessly to ensure the Watermelon flavour tastes as good as it looks! We can’t wait for consumers to get their hands on the new flavour once it is officially available.”

The new flavour announcement comes off the back of a phenomenal year of growth thanks to VK’s unwavering focus on its consumers and recent initiatives such as the VK student Ambassador search. VK is the fastest growing ‘traditional’ RTD in the UK’s off trade (Growing +24% in value and +23% in volume) and is the fastest growing (+19%) mixed 10 pack[3].

VK is an award-winning range of RTD beverages and is driving the RTD category. With seven flavours currently available: VK Blue, VK Ice, VK Strawberry & Lime, VK Orange & Passion Fruit, VK Black Cherry, VK Tropical Fruits and VK Apple & Mango.

To find out more on the new flavour head to www.vkofficial.com

 

 

[1] 

[2] http://www.novotaste.com/food-and-beverage-flavors-to-watch-for-in-2019-food-business-news/

[3] Nielsen RTD dataset (52 w.e. 30.06.18)