Cawston Press debuts in Australian market

A new beverage brand in an eye-catching one-litre Tetra Prisma pack has made its debut in the juice category in Woolworths supermarkets across the country. The brand is Cawston Press, an apple-based ambient fruit juice imported fully packaged from the UK and launched in October in time for the Australian summer.

The local distributor is Sydney-based Club Trading & Distribution (CTD), which represents a number of new and emerging brands that it believes bring a “unique point of difference to Australian consumers”.

Although this is an aseptically packed ambient juice (ie long-life/UHT), Food & Drink Business first spotted it in the chilled juice aisle where the one-litre stands side by side with brands like Berri Australian Grown and Nudie. This is because it's positioned as a premium juice thanks to the packaging and brand redesign that won UK agency Pearl Fisher a Gold DBA Design Effectiveness Award this year.

PearlFisher was tasked with redesigning this ambient apple juice brand to inject desire into the category, which it did so successfully that after the new design sales reportedly increased by an impressive 249 per cent.

Georgie Scott, marketing manager at CTD, confirmed that currently the brand is fully imported. She said Cawston Press would like to package the brand here in Australia, but currently there is no filling line installed locally that can accommodate the Tetra Prisma Aseptic pack. Scott said the company has been in talks with Tetra Pak and is “looking into it”.

Of course, because of the volumes in this market, to justify the investment in such a filling line would possibly mean more brands would need to switch to the pack format, and that would take away a key point of difference it currently enjoys on shelf.

Tetra Prisma was chosen for its premium attributes: its unique eye-catching shape and excellent pouring and gripping features.

But it's more than the packaging that gives the brand its point of difference, according to Scott. The way the juice is processed – picked pressed and preserved – within 48 hours of harvesting the apples, allows it to retain its fresh ripe flavour.

Mark Palmer, managing director at Cawston Press explains that the company prides itself on being a master of the art of apple blending.

“At Cawston Press we take the apple seriously... treating the blends with the integrity of fine wines to create flavour combinations which perfectly complement each other.

“A freshly picked apple has a great flavour and for Cawston Press it’s all about capturing that. To get the best juice from an apple it should be left to ripen naturally on the tree. That’s why we only harvest our apples at their peak, so they are brimming with juice and we can guarantee that wonderful tree ripened flavour.”

The Cawston Press juice blends are made from pressed whole fruit, not fruit concentrates and each one-litre juice carton includes at least eight whole apples. The range is 100 per cent natural with no added sugar, sweeteners, colourings or preservatives, except for the lemonade variant which contains added sugar.

Scott told F&DB that currently Woolworths has exclusivity on the brand across its 850 stores, but that after six months the brand will be expanding into other retail channels.


Four one-litre variants and three 250ml variants have been launched in Australia,competitively priced at $3.99 per litre; $2.49 per 250ml. Flavours include: Apple and Ginger - (1 litre and 250ml); Apple and Elderflower – 250ml; Apple and Rhubarb - (1 litre and 250ml); Apple and Carrot – 1 litre; Apple Lemonade – 1 litre.