It’s not every day that we can offer a personal insight into a ‘new kid on the block’, but now we’re talking about Don Simon drinks, that day has come! Y’see, Planet Vending is based a gentle two-hour drive from the Don Simon HQ in Jumilla, Murcia. From there to here, at this time of the year, the campo is heaving with citrus fruit, ripening in the sun.
Our neighbours know a thing or two about fruit growing, so they know what real fruit juice taste like. The fact that Don Simon products dominate the supermarket shelves in these parts should tell you all you need to know about how good they are. For us, without a doubt, it’s our go-to drinks brand.
When we were told that Don Simon was planning a voyage into vending, which would set sail at Vendex, Yvonne and I looked at each other and she said, ‘that’ll put the cat amongst the seagulls…’
the numbers speak for themselves…
Don Simon was founded over 125 years ago by the Garcia Carrion Family, and now in 4th & 5th Generation it is still family owned… It’s a business you may never have heard of – we hadn’t until we landed in Alicante – but the numbers speak for themselves. The company exports to more than 150 countries. It won’t surprise you to learn, (given the foregoing paragraphs), that Don Simon is Spain’s number-one juice brand – but the fact that it’s already claimed a place in the UK’s top five juice brands might be news to you?
Hayley Bell is Don Simon’s UK Category & Strategy Director and she is getting ready for Vendex with a real sense of excitement. After all, it’s a step into the unknown. ‘For all of us at Don Simon this is a brand-new avenue’, she says. ‘Attending Vendex North is just the beginning of our mission to engage with the vending channel. The Don Simon brand is hugely popular amongst British holidaymakers in Spain and we think they’d love to be able to relive a little bit of that sunshine experience on their lunchbreak at the office, or after a work out in the gym. That’s just one strand of the great story we’re looking forward to sharing with vending operators.’
Spearheading the product offer at Vendex is something new: sparkling lemonade, in a 330ml slim can. At just 18 calories per 100ml it’s a healthier choice than most, and we just know that the taste will be of the ‘knock socks off’ variety. As Jennie Paszke, Don Simon’s UK Sales Director says, it is ‘the perfect option for pure refreshment. And by the way, there’s the potential for impressive margins to be earned.’
‘Our brand is known country wide by being sold across the major multiples with our 1.5L still juices but we want to bring these lemonades to the On the Go market and vending is simply perfect for this’, Hayley adds.
‘Our mission at Vendex is all about getting people to taste our drinks’, Jennie concludes. ‘We want to build up a demand for our products with vending operators. If we can do that, we’re confident that the industry’s leading wholesalers will want to work with us to deliver what we truly believe is a huge opportunity for everyone involved in vending.’
*You’ll find Don Simon on Stand 31 at Vendex North. On duty will be Hayley and Jennie, together with their colleagues Richard Johnson (UK Business Change Director) and Paul Walker, (UK Business Director).
To read more about Vendex North on Planet Vending’s Spotlight on Vendex, click here.
