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Not long ago, Capri-Sun seemed a product at odds with the future. The handy pack encapsulated many of the major sins levelled at soft drinks: relatively high levels of sugar (10mg per 100ml), child-focused marketing, and entirely unrecyclable packaging.
Today, the picture is quite different. The brand has halved sugar content to 4.9g, altered its marketing approach, and is making headway towards a fully recyclable pack. Still, Capri-Sun Group CEO Roland Weening is loath to describe it as a revamp. For him, it's more about the brand going back to its roots.
"It's an interesting paradox," says Weening, who took the top job at its Switzerland HQ nearly five years ago. "We launched Capri-Sun in 1969 and, at the time, it was really the first all-natural kids' drink in the world.
"Because of the packaging it had no preservatives," he explains. "And because of the background of the owner, Hans-Peter Wild, who had a natural flavours company, it was very much built on natural credentials. So it's going a bit full circle."
That focus is reflected in the packs, which now prominently display the tagline 'nothing artificial'. Capri-Sun has been careful to avoid artificial sweeteners, using stevia in its 2018 sugar reduction programme.
That's because, for Weening, the backlash towards sweeteners will eventually overtake the strength of feeling towards sugar. Although he doesn't want to downplay sugar - "don't get me wrong, I think obesity is an issue globally" - he expects the focus to shift.
"I've been in fmcg for over 25 years and I've seen some of these things come and...