Campbell enters US organic juice market
UV-resistant cloth, fungicide honoured
Lemsip, Bubble Moments get new looks
Ten Step programme at bakery
Taste rules kids’ choice
Summer Lightning strikes
Make your mark stand out
One man, one stand

NPD

Campbell enters US organic juice market

Campbell Soup’s first certified organic product, Organic Tomato Juice, has hit US stores in 46-ounce (1.36-litre) multi-serve plastic bottles, going for $2.69 as against $1.99 for juice from conventional tomatoes.

The new juice carries the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Organic Seal. Campbell hopes to cruise the organic food aisle, which has grown 15-20% a year for the last 10 years, according to the Organic Trade Association.

Campbell's first organic tomato varieties were bred from seedlings selected by Campbell's Seeds Company in Davis, California and planted in April by certified organic farmers. The vine ripened tomatoes were harvested in early August and processed on certified lines in Campbell's Sacramento factory within 48 hours.

Innovation awards

UV-resistant cloth, fungicide honoured

Germany chemical company BASF’s Innovation Award have gone to teams that developed Ultramid BS 416N, a nylon for cotton-like textiles with inbuilt UV protection, and F500, a crop protection agent with a broad spectrum of action against fungal disease.

Executive director Dr Stefan Marcinowski said “Innovations are essential in driving profitable growth for BASF. Enhancing our product range with innovative products and customised solutions is one of our main goals.”

Fabrics made from the nylon are as easy to wear as cotton and provide reliable protection against UV radiation. Using a special process, BASF’s experts distributed titanium dioxide in the nylon to achieve a UV protection factor of up to 80 while still allowing the material to be spun into fine yarns. These are now available as outdoorwear and swimwear from brands such as Speedo, The North Face and VauDe.

F 500 is a low-dosage strobilurin that controls the main fungal diseases that affect cereals, vegetables, fruit and vines, with good toxicological and ecotoxicological properties.

Design

Lemsip, Bubble Moments get new looks

With more and more purchase decision made in-store, packaging and graphics have to work harder to sell the product. Small wonder that FMCG companies such as PZ Cussons and Reckitt Benckiser (RB) are refreshing their brands.

The UK’s favourite flu fighter, RB’s Lemsip, has been made over by UK graphic design house Blue Marlin. Apart from a more modern design, Blue Marlin introduced colour coding for the different target markets: the standard product keeps its mainly green look, while the Max Strength gets more red. The children’s version uses a light purple; the Cough remedies have dark blue duotones with the Sinus range coming in lighter cyan.

Reckitt Benckiser category director Sally Ditcher said “the brand architecture not only brings greater impact and clarity, but also creates a framework that allows the seamless introduction of new products.”

Blue Marlin is also responsible for a new “flowing” structure for Cussons’ Imperial Leather Bubble Moments. Aimed at the small indulgence trend, the Quiet Time lavender-scented soap features soothing bubbles morphing into a luxurious lather, all in rich purple shades and calming typography.

Operations

Ten Step programme at bakery

Welsh confectionery baker Avana is using a software program from Northamptonshire firm Ten Software to monitor progress on its Balanced Scorecard performance system. The system produces graphs of key performance indicators, making it easy for operators and managers to see at a glance what’s happening on the factory floor, and for the company to swop data with its parent, RHM Group.

Markets

Taste rules kids’ choice

Despite knowing what’s good for them, childrens’ choice of cereal is based mainly on taste, which means that, given a choice, they’ll pick the sweets.

This insight comes from a six-monthly survey by UK design house Coutts of the preferences of 5-11 year olds. Te information helps Coutts’s customers pick brand associations with legs. For instance

• Gareth Gates is pop history; Busted & Blue are hot pop.

• There’s no end to The Simpsons and Eastenders

• Beckham rules for boys and girls

• Harry Potter is still to die for

• Xbox sucks; Playstation is supreme

Promotions

Summer Lightning strikes

You wouldn’t guess that Britain’s warm flat beer could find a welcome anywhere, no matter how many awards it won. Be amazed. Hop Back Brewery’s Summer Lightning ale is the toast of 80 bars in Northern Italy, and others in the US, Finland, Sweden and New Zealand are gearing up to pour pints.

Trade Partners UK, a UK government-backed export promotion body, is helping the brewery, started in 1987 by pub owners John and Julie Gilbert, to develop its export trade.

Make your mark stand out

Anyone watching the Rugby World Cup on TV will have noticed the 3D logos that appear to litter the field. The company that makes it happen now promises to do the same for you in almost any public (or private) space.

Linemark UK says it has adapted the process and found new materials that let it apply the graphics to almost any flat or sloping surface, including supermarket floors and parking areas. “The idea of standing at the end of an aisle and seeing what appears to be a beer can or a packet of cornflakes standing in the middle of the floor has a certain appeal,” says Linemark commercial director Tony Holt.

One man, one stand

Sick of spending millions on shows and exhibitions? The organisers of Foodex Meatex (NEC Birmingham 14-17 March 2004) may have an answer in the shape of one man/on-line stand. For around GBP5000 the exhibitor can have a furnished, carpeted booth, full graphics, a PC and fast internet access, plus a 20-inch (50cm) wall-mounted screen on which to show a CD-ROM presentation of his products and services.