What a Splash!

Latoya Grindley, Staff Reporter

Ocean Spray's Cranberry is out

Following its recent acquisition of the Ocean Spray brand, Pepsi Cola Jamaica Limited is not wasting anytime to develop products based on the desires of consumers. On September 1, the latest of the Ocean Spray line of products was launched in major supermarkets and retail outlets islandwide.

The Flavour Splash Water is positioned, according to Trade Marketing Manager, Catherine Goodall, as the brand that will supersede similar products on the market.

According to her, the development and formulation of the product was based on the requests of consumers.

"We did a survey and asked what it is that was missing in the other flavoured products that were available and most people wanted more of a cranberry flavour. Our flavoured water is actually three per cent juice. We are giving more cranberry as opposed to the others which are more water than cranberry."

Available now solely in the cranberry flavour, Goodall says there are always the possibilities to expand on their offerings. But for now, the company is happy about the positive feedback it has received on its latest initiative.

"It has been overwhelming as we are getting great feedback. Many of them say the most enticing part is that it is quite refreshing".

Still relatively new on the market, there has been ongoing promotional exercises at specific locations where consumers are privy to samples. To date, Kingston, St Thomas and St Catherine have had their share of promotions and now the activities are being taken to other parishes.

But before they took their promotion any further, Pepsi Cola Jamaica team members took their products to the Gleaner's North Street office to give a taste of their cranberry-flavoured Ocean Spray Flavour Splash Water.

And this is what they had to say:

Your comments

Tasted a bit flat but it's water, so I'm not sure it's supposed to taste any different.

First thing I noted was that it tasted too sweet for what I expected flavoured water to be. However, the flavour was OK, but I was concerned so checked the sugar content - 13g of sugar per serving and the bottle contains two servings. Checked with the nurse and she advised me that the sugar content is high, especially as I am a diabetic. Normally, we should have only intake of 7g. 13g for half a bottle and double the required intake per drink. I will continue drinking water with no flavour as the sugar intake is just too much!

It's not too sweet, has a nice tangy taste, refreshing; one bottle hits the thirst-quenching spot.

The taste is a little odd not really liking it.

It's one of the better ones I've tasted.

It's not too sweet, nor too fresh. It's much better than the other ones.