Vimto just the tonic for soft drinks maker Nichols

An unprecedented wave of promotional activity by major soft drinks firms has failed to halt the assault on the UK market by Vimto, its owner said today.

Nichols said Vimto was capturing further market share even though consumers’ heads have been turned constantly by offers on rival drinks brands since the start of January.

Progress was being underpinned by a new marketing campaign that does not feature spiky-haired cartoon character Purple Ronnie, who has trumpeted the drink on TV and billboards in the past.

The craze around the Cheeky Vimto cocktail favoured by stars such as Charlotte Church was also sparking interest in the brand – even though it has nothing to do with Merseyside-based Nichols which sells exclusively soft drinks.

Chairman John Nichols said Vimto was being ditributed in increased quantities to major supermarkets in the UK, putting it in the frontline for attracting new drinkers.

But the market was challenging due to the special offers on the products of heavyweight drinks firms such as Britvic and Coca-Cola throughout the year so far, he said.

“We’ve never seen the depth of promotions of this level in the past,” Mr Nichols said.

“Coke was being sold on a buy-one-get-one-free which hasn’t been done before. If you get people in the market place promoting as deep as that then it’s a big problem for everybody else.”

Details emerged as Nichols said pre-tax profits rose 12% to £2.25m (€3.2m) during the six months to June 30 on the back of a 24.1% rise in turnover to £30.5m (€44.2m).

Vimto, which was developed as a health tonic in Manchester in 1908 and became popular during the temperance movement, is sold in regions including India and Africa as well as the UK.

It is widely associated in the Middle East with the festival of Ramadan when more than 80% of cordial sales take place.

In addition to Vimto, Nichols owns th Panda and Sunkist brands in the UK, hot drink systems supplier Balmoral and Cabana draught soft drinks.

The company cited a combination of tough market conditions and relatively poor summer weather for pushing sales down at its Cabana operation, although this was largely offset by an improved performance at Balmoral.

Nichols sold its food division in November for £11.6m (€16.8m) in the final part of its strategic review.

“The group is now a much stronger and more focused business with its core brands, particularly Vimto, continuing to perform well in extremely competitive market conditions,” Mr Nichols said.

“We expect the market to remain extremely challenging for the rest of the financial year, particularly in the carbonated soft drinks sector. However, we anticipate that our full year results will reflect the progress made in the first half year.”