SCOTS investors are launching an aggressive bid to take on themight of Lucozade and others in the GBP 3.6bn global market forsports and energy drinks.
GoPack Superdrinks will tomorrow launch what it claims is a newand better category of drink for tackling fatigue during and aftersports.
The Edinburgh firm's claim for its 'hypotonic' drink puts it on adirect collision course with Lucozade and other makers of 'isotonic'drinks which are promoted through big advertising, sponsorship anddistribution deals with major sports organisations such as theEnglish and Scottish premier football leagues. In the past, starssuch as John Barnes and Linford Christie have signed up to playtheir part in huge advertising promotions.
'I think the established players in the market will try to killus,' said Gordon Frew, a director of GoPack and La Mancha, theScottish film production company. 'But we're ready for them.
'We have distribution deals for key UK and European markets. Wehave contracted sufficient bottling and filling capacity to makesure we can meet anticipated demand from these markets in the nearterm, and we have heavyweight marketing partners.'
Critically, GoPack says its approach has been backed by DrStephen Wootton, a leading authority on sports nutrition. Wootton,of the Institute of Human Nutrition at Southampton University, willset the cat among the pigeons tomorrow when he tells colleagues atthe Food and Drink Expo in Birmingham that the industry has failedgrass roots athletes for 20 years.
Speaking on behalf of GoPack, Wootton will claim that in theirdrive for commercial success, large food and drink industrycompanies have not delivered a suitable product for the sports manor woman.
GoPack claims that its Umbro Hypotonic Sports Drink is one of anew generation of drinks which will meet that need. Its scientificformula has been developed specifically for sports performers by ex-athlete Steven Scutt, now a respected authority on the production ofsports drinks.
Scutt hit the headlines in 1982 as one of England's gold medal4x400 metres relay team in the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games.Then a top 10 ranked European athlete, he concluded on leaving thesport that a niche market existed for a drink created withperformers rather than the mass market in mind.
'Many current sports and energy drinks tend to have high sugar aswell as mineral content, and some use high concentrations ofadditives such as caffeine to appeal to a younger, fashion-ledmarket,' claimed Scutt. 'They have done little to tackle the realcauses of fatigue in sport, and rarely provide any genuine value toregular performers.'
For Scutt, the key lay in identifying dehydration as the maincause of fatigue, both during and after exercise. Seven years in themaking, the hypotonic formula is said to tackle fatigue primarily bycausing rapid rehydration rather than by providing a simple,carbohydrate-based energy boost.
GoPack was conceived after Bob Jamieson, the Scots entrepreneurwho built the Novafone mobile phones company before selling out toVodafone for GBP 2m in 1990, met Scutt while doing work for theScottish Commonwealth Games team in 1994.
'I was looking for a good product to tie up to a brand whichcould be developed globally,' said Jamieson, the driving forcebehind GoPack, which is chaired by Alastair McDougall, the formerchairman of Morrison Construction. Frew, Jamieson and McDougall hold75% of the equity between them.
Talks with the Benetton Formula One motor racing stable ensuedbut failed. Jamieson then went to sports brands Umbro, Adidas andNike. 'Umbro loved it,' said Frew.
Lancashire-based Umbro has lent the weight of its branding andglobal recognition in key areas such as football to the new drink,and is working closely with GoPack on plans which include an assaulton the US in the medium term.
Shut out of major sponsorship and advertising opportunities suchas the English and Scots premier football leagues for now, GoPackhas struck deals to promote its product through England's NationwideFootball League and also rugby league.
Jamieson, who once tried to buy Dundee Football Club and waslinked briefly with an attempt to purchase Hearts, spent Fridaynight at the Rotheram v Mansfield football match after deliveringsamples for players to drink. 'We've signed up more than 60 footballand rugby league clubs to be local suppliers and to get us ontopitch-side promotional boards,' said Frew.
Set up under the Enterprise Investment Scheme, which provides acapital gains tax shelter for investors who stay in for at leastfive years, GoPack has so far invested less than the GBP 200,000which its seven shareholders have committed. They have agreed alicensing deal which gives Scutt royalties on sales and leavesGoPack with the option to buy the intellectual property outright atany time according to an agreed formula.
Production starts in earnest this week when 500,000 bottles ofthe drink are scheduled to roll off the filling line then head for anational distributor which is working to generate interest amongretailers.
Meanwhile they await the response of the big league drinkscompanies. 'If they have a pop at us, they'll will be taking a popat Umbro too, and it is very protective of its brand,' warned Frew.
