How Fuel Breakfast Milk Drink is succeeding using Tetra Pak's DreamCap

Libby Costin, Tetra Pak’s global portfolio marketing director, explores the recent launch by Fresh Marketing UK of its Liquid Fuel breakfast drink in Tetra Prisma Aseptic 330 Square with DreamCap.

Breakfast is regularly referred to as the most important meal of the day and nutritionists often reference problems with concentration, metabolism and weight for breakfast skippers. Recent research conducted by Fresh Marketing revealed that 76% of people in the UK agree that breakfast is an important meal, but just 34% actually eat it on a regular basis simply because they don't have time, illustrating a huge potential market for new breakfast options.

To tackle this opportunity, Fresh Marketing recently launched Liquid Fuel, a range of ambient milk-based breakfast drinks targeted at the increasing numbers of breakfast skippers in the UK, offering them a time-saving, on-the-go solution.

Tetra Pak is working with Fresh Marketing by supplying the Tetra Prisma Aseptic 330 Square with DreamCap, a package with a range of attributes that complement the premium brand identity Liquid Fuel is seeking to develop as a newly available tasty, nutritious product.

Liquid breakfast on-the-go

On-the-go food consumption has risen steadily in the past five years, according to data. The proportion of consumers who eat 'on-the-go' at least once a week climbed from 21% in 2008 to 31% in 2012. With consumers living increasingly hectic lives and skipping breakfast for the sake of an extra few minutes in bed in the morning, many people have their first meal of the day while on the move. Thus, by launching a high protein liquid breakfast drink, Fresh Marketing broadened the choice of alternative breakfast options.

While Liquid Fuel is the first product of its kind in the UK, the liquid breakfast market has seen proven success in both the US and Australia. In Australia, 120 million cartons were sold in the liquid breakfast category during 2012. In the UK, the flavoured milk drinks market, including milk with nuts and cereals, grew by 13.9% in value in 2012, outperforming other drink categories including sports and energy drinks, carbonates, juices and smoothies.

Supermarket shelf standout

As an ambient milk-based breakfast, Liquid Fuel is competing for space and attention on the breakfast aisle and in the front-of-store chilled units. It needs to stand out from the competition, and by using the Tetra Prisma Aseptic with DreamCap, Fuel does exactly that, providing a contrast to most competitors who utilise plastic packaging.

Tetra Prisma Aseptic is an ergonomically designed package that's easy to grip and carry on-the-go, while the overall package offers a unique modern design that stands out on the shelf.

DreamCap also provides an easy and comfortable drinking experience. The cap's high neck and its over-the-edge design offers the beverage consumer easy access to the spout and a comfortable fit to the face and lips. On the other hand, the one-step screw cap of DreamCap ensures secure opening and resealing, perfect for those who want to carry the product in a handbag or rucksack.

In addition, the package is based on paperboard from wood, making it renewable and recyclable. All of these attributes combine to deliver a package that's highly portable and desirable and, most importantly, offers the convenient solution that breakfast skippers are looking for from their alternative breakfast.

Liquid Fuel is currently selling in single 330ml units, predominantly from the breakfast aisles of retailers, and has enjoyed sales of 0.5 million units in the first two months, exceeding expectations following launch.

Fresh Marketing expects the liquid breakfast category more broadly to expand to about 40 million units in 2014. The expected growth in this category is supported by market research, with 48% of global consumers agreeing that they rely heavily on products and services that help them save time.

This is an expanding trend, and Tetra Pak is working with Fresh Marketing to effectively use the full Tetra Prisma Aseptic portfolio of products, with a new portion pack launch of Liquid Fuel planned for later this year to take advantage of this growth area.

Speaking about the success of Liquid Fuel, and explaining some of the upcoming challenges, Barney Mauleverer, Fresh Marketing co-founder, said: "There is an increasing number of consumers who want breakfast on-the-go and we've designed Liquid Fuel to capture the imagination of these consumers and give them a great-tasting product that fits their lifestyles.

"We are acutely aware that competition in the liquid breakfast category will quickly stiffen and so we're pleased to have established a relationship with Tetra Pak, utilising the unique attributes of the Tetra Prisma Aseptic with DreamCap.

"Launching a product in a totally new category is a large undertaking, but the support and expertise of Tetra Pak has been invaluable in helping us carve out a unique market position."

Source: Tetra Pak