The Sunny Delight Beverages Co. is test-marketing FruitSimple, a new, 100-percent juice smoothie designed to provide two full servings of fruit in every 8-oz glass. FruitSimple is in test market in AZ and is being launched nationally in Spain, SDBC's second-largest market. This new product, which is available in a 40-oz polyethylene terephthalate bottle and a four-pack of eight-oz PET bottles, comes in a variety of contemporary flavors, including Pomegranate Blueberry and Orange Mango, and can be found in the dairy case where other juices are merchandised. “FruitSimple is really simple,” says Rick Zimmerman, senior vp of marketing and innovation. “Our consumers are having trouble getting their families, particularly their kids, to consume enough fruits and vegetables every day. Our goal is to make that easier by providing two full servings in one eight- ounce bottle, and have them like it. We think we have achieved that with FruitSimple.”

SDBC also is investing in a new manufacturing system capable of producing high-quality, fresh-tasting beverages without any preservatives. The company has selected equipment from Krones Inc, (www.kronesusa.com), a leading supplier of beverage-packing lines, to produce the new packing line. The line will be installed in the company's plant in South Brunswick, NJ, and will be operational in early 2008.

“Our job is to meet the expectations of consumers for fresher tasting and more wholesome products,” says Ellen Iobst, senior vp of manufacturing and technology. “This investment will allow us to do that by giving us a state-of-the-art packing line that can produce very high quality, fresh-tasting beverages with extended shelf lives and no preservatives. Very few companies in the U.S. have this capability and we are proud to be among the pioneers in this area.”

Designing, installing, starting up and running these sophisticated manufacturing lines requires a high degree of technical skill, Iobst adds. The company views its initiatives as significant in its efforts to meet consumer desires and it is working on several other new products.