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Andreas Berggren, Vice-President Europe, Africa & Asia Pacific at V&S Absolut Spirits: “With Absolut Apeach (pictured), we are thrilled to present a product into a flavour segment that is underdeveloped, and where the Absolut Vodka brand is happy to lead the way.” |
SWEDEN. V&S Absolut Spirits will launch a new flavoured vodka from the Absolut Vodka range, Absolut Apeach, into the US market and the Swedish on-trade market, namely the restaurants and bars, in May 2005.
Erik Juul-Mortensen, President, Global Duty Free V&S Absolut Spirits told The Moodie Report: “Absolut Apeach will be launched in the US duty paid market in May, and May will also see the launch of the brand in duty free in the Americas. This means that IAADFS in Fort Lauderdale will be the launch pad for Absolut Apeach. In the rest of the world Absolut Apeach will be launched in November 2005, and we will here take full advantage of TWFA World Exhibition in Cannes to present Absolut Apeach. The duty free and travel retail price for Absolut Apeach will be on line with other Absolut Vodka flavours.”
“Right now we are focusing on the US and Sweden,” said Marika Hjelm Siegwald, Director, Corporate Communications V&S Absolut Spirits, to The Moodie Report, “but other markets will follow as Absolut Vodka is a global brand. However, the announcement of the launch of Absolut Apeach will be done on a market by market basis.”
Andreas Berggren, Vice-President Europe, Africa & Asia Pacific V&S Absolut Spirits, said: “The flavoured vodka segment continues to grow, in the US especially, but the trend is global. With Absolut Apeach, we are thrilled to present a product into a flavour segment that is underdeveloped, and where the Absolut Vodka brand is happy to lead the way.”
The “succulent and flirty zest” of the vodka, according to Senior Director Marketing V&S Absolut Spirits Michael Persson, “counteracts the perception of peach-flavoured drinks in general”. Absolut Apeach is distilled at Ã…hus in southern Sweden, like the rest of the Absolut Vodka brands.
The bottle is dressed in the peachy shades of pink, yellow and orange. “The multiple shades of peach on the bottle suggest the kind of experience that Absolut Apeach offers – complex and sophisticated, exciting the senses in unexpected ways,” according to the company.
The vodka is available in 1.75L, 1L, 750ml and 500ml. It can be consumed neat, over ice, or in mixed drinks and cocktails.
For details, contact Anders Olsson, Duty Free Director, at +45 32 66 24 24 or email: ddfs@distillers.dk.
NOTE: Also included in the Absolut Vodka family are Absolut Raspberri, Absolut Vanilia, Absolut Mandrin, Absolut Kurant, Absolut Citron and Absolut Citron. The company says that the launch of Absolut Citron in 1988 paved the way for flavoured vodkas in the US, maintaining that Citron is “still the number one brand in the flavoured vodka category in the US”.
V&S Absolut Spirits, part of the V&S Group, is also the brand owner of Absolut Cut and Level. Absolut Vodka is available in 126 markets worldwide. The head office is in Stockholm, Sweden.
MORE STORIES ON ABSOLUT VODKA
Absolut Vodka shipments up +5% in 2004 – 01/02/05
Absolut Vodka looks for fruitful gains in duty free with launch of Raspberri flavour – 07/09/04
V&S Group unveils new exhibition approach as it brings a new Level to duty free – 21/04/04
Absolut is right on the Level with major super-premium launch – 09/11/03
