"V" for Victory in Britain?

"V" was officially launched into the UK market on May 1, but the company says its been waiting to get enough "good quality and objective" sales information together to give a decent idea of how the energy drink is faring.

Frucor boss Mark Cowsill says TV and cinema advertising which has accompanied "V" was an important factor in getting some major distributors to stock the product, and many did not place orders until two weeks before the July 1 campaign kicked off.

The Frucor product is up against a number of competitors in the energy drink market, including Austrian-made market leader Red Bull and Japanese product Lipovitan.

It's also up against a drink from the Virgin stable of uber-entrepreneur Richard Branson called Virgin DT (Day Time). Virgin also produces an NT (Night Time) version that contains alcohol.

The Virgin tipples were launched around the same time as "V", at the start of the northern hemisphere summer.

Frucor says it is aiming "V" at the daytime energy drink market, unlike Red Bull and Virgin NT, which tend to have a stronger following in licensed premises.

There's little doubt strong distribution support will be the key to the kiwi drink's success.

With its distinctive green packaging the product may just glow a little brighter than others at retail outlets, which will give sales a lift.

It's also not a bad colour to be going on with in Ireland, where the product was launched a few weeks ago. Mark Cowsill says it's early days yet to have any sales data from Ireland but says the launch there went well.

Frucor's shares appear to have been re-rated by NZ investors in recent weeks, rising happily over the $2.00 mark after listing at just $1.50.

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