New Zealand’s top-selling premium fruit syrup brand, Barker’s of Geraldine, has begun jostling for space on Australian supermarket shelves alongside Bickfords, Ribena and Cascade.
The family-owned NZ company is introducing four premium 710ml fruit syrups to Australian supermarket shelves: Squeezed NZ Blackcurrants, Orange & Barley with Passionfruit, Crushed NZ Apricot Blush and Lemon, Honey & Ginger.
Barker’s Blackcurrants and Apricots are pressed and bottled on a corner of the family farm beside the Te Moana river, which is surrounded by pasture and sits at the foot of the Southern Alps, in Geraldine on New Zealand’s South Island.
Two products in the range are made from squeezed and crushed fruits, rather than concentrate, and all of its products are free from artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
Michael Barker, the company’s co-owner and director and son of Anthony Barker, who founded the business 44 years ago, says the company has been making fruit syrup since 1981 in response to large plantings of blackcurrants in the area.
“We were sheep and crop farmers diversifying,” Barker says. “At the time, Ribena was the only dominant brand in the fruit syrup space. As a cottage industry, we developed a high quality, all natural Blackcurrant syrup and we took on Ribena and won.
“We are now the market leader in the New Zealand fruit syrup category, and we have a wide range of premium flavours, though we are only launching four in Australia at this time.”
According to Barker, home-made fruit syrups are the oldest form of fruit drinks, and use a very traditional form of fruit preserving.
Because the company still uses the traditional recipe of half blackcurrant juice and half sugar, he says, it doesn’t need to add preservatives, colours or flavours.
Barker says industry figures show the fruit syrup market in NZ is over twice the size of the market in Australia, which indicates there’s lots of room for growth for the category in the Australian market.
Barker also says that commercial brands in the category in Australia are more cost-focused than Barkers.
“We have unashamedly left the quality in the bottle,” he says. “We are not trying to compete on cost. We are offering Australian consumers a great-tasting, high-quality range that the category currently lacks.”
He says the company’s edge lies in its use of local produce that it presses and bottles itself wherever possible.
An example of this is Barker’s flagship Blackcurrant Juice syrup, which is squeezed from locally grown blackcurrants. Each bottle contains the juice from over 750 berries, more than any other brand, Barker says.
Barker’s also uses fresh crushed apricots in its Apricot Blush product, and local clover honey with grated root ginger in its Lemon, Honey & Ginger.
Barker says when he approached Australian retailers to stock the brand, they were interested in the value and excitement Barker’s added to the fruit syrup category.
“Barker’s are not in the business of selling coloured and flavoured drinks. We sell great tasting traditional fruit syrups which are high in fruit and high in Vitamin C. The squeezed Blackcurrant doubles as a daily antioxidant tonic, mixed with six parts of hot or cold water.”
The Barker’s range is being sold in the cordial aisle at Coles stores nationwide, at a RRP of $7.49.
Syrup snapshot
The mainstream cordial category may be in decline, but premium cordials and fruit syrups are experiencing growth, Michael Barker says.
The fruit syrup category is still small in Australia compared to New Zealand, he says. Here it’s currently worth $48 million, according to Retail World Annual Report 2012, while in New Zealand, which has one fifth of Australia’s population, Aztec figures show that in August 2013, the category was worth $22 million.
The fruit syrup space in Australia is dominated by the Bickfords, Ribena and Cascade brands.
Though Bickfords is most famous for its Lime juice cordial, it has also moved into milkshake mixes and premium super fruit such as its Super Berry Red Juice.
In 2007, Ribena received flack after Choice magazine revealed the product was only five per cent blackcurrant juice, although the issue didn’t apply to its syrups.
Cascade Fruit Juices have recently been repackaged and reformulated by Coca-Cola Amatil after its acquisition of the brand from Fosters last year.
