Fevertree Drinks (AIM:FEVR) has taken aim at Aperol and the spritz market by teaming up with one of the top French rosé wine producers to create a new product.
Fevertree is set to launch a new pale pink rosé spritz in collaboration with Maison Mirabeau, the Provence-based winery.
The product comes with a lower-than-average alcoholic strength of 8% and mixes Fevertree’s raspberry and orange blossom soda with Mirabeau’s rosé wine Forever Summer.
Fevertree boss Tim Warrillow said the drink was inspired by the “desire for longer, lighter, refreshing serves perfect for easy summer drinking”.
Typical rosés are between 12% and 13%, meaning a weaker version of the drink could attract younger customers and those who are increasingly interested in lower or no-alcohol drinks.
Campari, which owns Aperol Spritz, recently revealed the drink had become the eighth most popular cocktail, although its growth rates have moderated in recent times.
Warrillow believes a slight change to the standard version of the cocktail could lead to renewed growth.
“Last summer we experimented with a rosé spritz on the menus of various pub groups and they proved a runaway success,” he said.
The 50/50 collaboration is expected to launch in the summer in the on-trade and for specific retail listings.
“I think it’s going to have great legs, not just here but internationally,” Warrillow concluded.