The licenses were awarded by Nichols PLC, which owns Sunkist and other soft drink brands such as Vimto and Panda.
Tangerine will produce Sunkist bon bons and mini chews while Rose will manufacture branded bubblegum and Sunkist candy spray.
Sunkist nostalgia claims
Nichols claims the Sunkist brand has nostalgic appeal in the UK.
“Sunkist has a fantastic latent recall amongst the older consumers (i.e. older than teens) who remember the drinks from their youth,” company Brand Licensing Manager James Nichols told ConfectioneryNews.
“Whilst the brand isn’t as widely known as Vimto, its packaging gives it fantastic stand-out on shelf and looks entirely different from other packs in the category.”
Tangerine’s Vimto confectionery
Tangerine Confectionery already has a license to manufacture a range of Vimto branded confectionery in the UK.
Nichols said sales for Vimto Confectionery were performing strongly.
“A large part of their range was previously produced by Thornycroft before they went into administration (and before Tangerine were a licensee) and Tangerine’s current sales are significantly outperforming all historical sales. The bonbons in particular are showing fantastic growth,” he said.
He added that Tangerine had moved production to their Blackpool site in order to keep pace with demand.
Tangerine Confectionery closed its factory in Poole, Dorset, UK, earlier this year and moved production to other plants including its factory in Blackpool. The move resulted in 75 job losses.
Wholesale strategy
The other licensee for Sunkist, Rose Holdings, has permission to manufacture Sunkist and Vimto frozen ice lollies. It also makes Tango branded confectionery under license from Britvic.
All Sunkist confectionery will sold in impulse channels through Cash & Carry’s and delivered wholesale. The range will also initially appear in discount stores.