WhipperSnapple and Welch's entry are latest smoothie operators - Snapple Beverage Corp. and Welch Foods

Brandweek, March 9, 1998 by Gerry Khermouch

With juice bars booming, marketers are stepping up their presence in prepackaged "smoothies" as Snapple launches a shelf stable entry under the name WhipperSnapple, Welch's gets ready to test a frozen product and Hansen's looks to adopt a cobranding strategy with the next generation of its pioneering entry.

Triarc's Snapple unit, known to have been planning an entry under the codename Frapple (Brandweek, Nov. 3), will marshall real dairy content, a lush mouth feel and the quirky moniker WhipperSnapple to help restore the brand's reputation for product innovation. WhipperSnapple, with 4-6% dairy content and 15-20% juice, ships nationally next month in a proprietary 10-oz. swirl bottle in Orange Dream, Peach Mango, Strawberry Banana and Pineapple Orange flavors, plus two fortified "Power" sub-entries: Berry (with ginseng, echinacea and bee pollen) and Citrus (gingko biloba, spirulina and wheat-grass). It will be backed by national TV and radio via agency Deutsch, N.Y., plus POP from The Marketing Continuum, Norwalk, Conn. Package design is from Lipson Alport Glass, N.Y.

Svp marketing Ken Gilbert termed it the first shelf-stable product to blend juices and dairy via a proprietary technology, and major Snapple wholesalers seemed enthusiastic about its prospects "I ordered five trailers, and they haven't even produced it yet," said Joe Rosamilia, CEO of Millrose Distributors, North Brunswick, N.J. "These guys have got it together." He said that despite the quirky name, the line should burnish Snapple's premium image, while not undercutting sales of the core brand.

Meanwhile, Welch Foods shortly will test a line of frozen Fruit Smoothies in supermarkets in the Southwest, priced about $1.89 in 11-oz. resealable plastic cups. The smoothies, to be consumed after 90 seconds in a microwave oven, were devised to better mimic the thick, icy texture of actual juice bar drinks than bottled products do, said senior product manager Kathleen Mirani.

In Strawberry Banana, Mixed Berry and Peach Banana flavors, the new line contains no dairy content. It will receive modest ad support via agency Jordan McGrath, N.Y., and sampling, Mirani indicated. Package design was by The Coleman Group, N.Y.

The new lines go up against a handful of existing players, including the segment pioneer, Hansen's, with its shelf-stable line, and Tropicana, testing chilled Tropicana Fruitwise Smoothies and Healthy Fruit Shakes since last fall. Hansen's is readying a new generation of product, likely co-branded with the names of its botanical and vitamin ingredient suppliers, that will attempt to more closely replicate the juice bar experience, said svp Mark Hall.