Dive Brief:
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The Skinnygirl brand has partnered with Heartland Food Products Group in developing a new line of water enhancers to be sold in stores starting in March.
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Skinnygirl founder Bethenny Frankel explained , "I wanted to give women a delicious alternative to just plain water and typical sodas." Reflecting current taste trends toward exotic fruit flavors, the water enhancers will be available in white cherry, blueberry acai, pineapple coconut, and Fuji apple.
Dive Insight:
Skinnygirl may have miscalculated just how many women would opt for reduced calorie alcohol when they defined their niche market. Beam, the company that owns the Skinnygirl brand, revealed that sales for that line dropped 26% last year, while other alcoholic categories actually rose 2%. A Buzzfeed article published earlier this month declared the ex-reality star Frankel's brand to be sinking. But taking this new direction may be just what it needs to rise again.
It makes sense to reach out to that customer base with flavored water, an increasingly popular beverage category. As we saw earlier this month when Coca-Cola expanded its Minute Maid range with new water enhancers, major brands are adding more fruit-flavored water enhancers to appeal to customers who want to cut the sugar in soda and juice but don’t want to drink their water plain.