Sunny Delight gets a new owner
Gamble, is to be sold to a US-based private equity group as part of
P&G's decision to focus on its snacks and coffee units.
Sunny Delight, or Sunny D as it is now known, is one of the best selling soft drink brands in the US, Canada, the UK and France, but has frequently been criticised for its marketing techniques and for the product's formulations.
Tabloid headlines of people's skin turning yellow after drinking the brand (admittedly in huge quantities) and other rather more serious claims of misleading advertising about the healthiness of the drink and its actual juice content have occasionally dented sales of the brand, prompting P&G to put it up for sale.
The US group first announced that it was considering a number of strategic options for both Sunny D and the Punica fruit juice drink back in July last year, saying at the time that it believed a drinks industry specialist would be best placed to drive sales of the brand.
But with the soft drinks market increasingly dominated by healthy products, the (relatively) high-sugar, low-juice content of Sunny D means that trade buyers were reticent about taking on the brand, despite its strong position in a number of markets, paving the way for the bid by JW Childs Associates.
The investment group will manage both brands through the Sunny Delight Beverages Company, and will inherit a business with sales worth $550 million a year from operations in eight countries. In contrast, both Pringles and Folgers, P&G's two core food and beverage brands, are valued at more than $1 billion.
JW Childs Associates said that it was acquiring a brand with "good advertising and strong future prospects" and said that P&G would continue to manufacture both brands for the next year to ensure a smooth transition.
Since acquiring the brand in 1989, P&G has more than quadrupled Sunny D sales through geographic expansion, new flavours and packages and effective marketing - despite the setbacks caused by negative publicity.
The brand now includes Tangy Florida Style and Smooth California Style orange juice drinks, a Tropical Caribbean variant, a calcium fortified version, a new lemonade sub brand and a variety of sizes.
Punica is sold primarily in Germany, and was acquired by P&G in 1984. It recently launched new a sub brand Schorle and tea and fruit flavours of the main brand, as well as new PET packaging forms.
