
ARN’s Ones to Watch 11 : Hello again! My Top Tip this month is that you ’get in quick’ with the new Carabao SPORT drink (writes John Crichton). It comes in a 500ml bottle, (with a snazzy design and a sports cap, by the way), in two flavours: Orange and Mixed Berry.
Do you remember that I once said that, in order to keep up with developments in the soft drinks industry, you have to learn a new language? Here’s another case in point and I quote: ‘The launch of Carabao SPORT follows new consumer research which reveals that 60% of regular Isotonic Sports Drink drinkers who exercise weekly are very concerned about the presence of aspartame in sport drinks.’
Excuse me? Hands up everybody who, like me, has never heard of aspartame? The trouble is, those people who consider their bodies to be temples, and therefore visit gyms, and (double therefore) avail themselves of the vending machines in those establishments, are very familiar with this stuff. And not just a little bit suspicious of it. In the spirit of going ‘the extra mile’, I Googled ‘aspartame’, so you don’t have to. ‘Aspartame is a white, odourless powder that’s 200 times sweeter than sucrose and is commonly used as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages. It is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide.’
Did you get that? It’s a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide, for Goodness’ sake!
ARN’s Ones to Watch 11 : Carabao SPORT includes all the carbohydrates and electrolytes required to support prolonged exercise that you’d expect to find in a sports drink, but according to the chaps at Carabao, it’s ‘the unique combination of aspartame free, added B vitamins, 100% natural colours and flavours and fantastic flavour’ that makes this drink special. The launch price is £8.49… Think about the other brands in that sector and then, do the sums…
And if you fancy a snack with that, we’re offering a 10% Discount on Blackfriars Flap Jacks. We’ve been really pleased with this line: there aren’t many flap jack type products that justify a spiral, but this is definitely one of them. They don’t hang around in machines, which is good news: the other good news is that these tasty morsels have a shelf life of around six months, so either way, you’ll not be chucking unsold Blackfriars Flap Jacks any time soon.

Meanwhile, in a ‘hold the front page’ moment for ARN’s Ones to Watch 11 , I have to say ‘Hats Off to Pladis’. You might remember that in my previous epistle, I wrote: ‘the good people at Pladis have responded to market forces by giving their ever-popular Mini Cheddars some additional support, by means of a little extra funding. It means that from now, until the end of May, the price for Mini Cheddars is £11.29.’ Well, scrap that. You see, those same good people have decreed that the price can be held for another month, so you have until the end of June to fill your boots. Woo-hoo!
Similarly, our Dairy Milk and Double Decker offer will shortly come to an end. I’d urge you not to miss out on this one – we’ve seen sales of these lines rise by around 50%, so you can expect a similar up-tick if you stock up at this price…
And finally, Burts crisps, one of our more proactive suppliers, are at it again in June. Their ‘Standard’ crisps will be on at £6.29 and Ridges, £7.99. If you’ve participated in Burts’ other promotions recently, you’ll be rubbing your hands together at the prospect of this one.
Well, that’s it for ARN’s Ones to Watch 11, look out for more ‘Ones to Watch’ next month. If I remember…
Until then, gan canny.
John
John Crichton is the CEO of ARN, Automatic Retailing Northern Ltd
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