Business And Leadership, Ireland's Business News Service

The brand story

From small beginnings in 1927, MiWadi has become one of Ireland’s best-loved brands. It is the largest dilute here, commanding a 40pc share of the market. Around 16.5 million litres of MiWadi are consumed every year.

In the early days, Mineral Water Distributors, as the company was known, employed about 80 people. The syrup was made in the syrup room on the second floor and then manually filled downstairs. It wasn’t until the Thirties that MiWadi was being produced on a daily basis.

World War Two had a major effect on MiWadi and its Dublin factory. MiWadi was one of the few drinks to be kept in production as it could be rationed. During this period, MiWadi was also carbonated and replaced Club Orange as the fizzy orange drink.

It was sold in chemists because cordials were considered to be healthy drinks, given to people when they were sick. It was considered an expensive treat during the Forties if you were able to drink MiWadi.

Machines were introduced to do much of the MiWadi production in the Sixties, and the brand started to become more popular in larger grocers. The company that produced MiWadi changed its name to Thwaits and then to C&C.

The Seventies was a boom time for the brand, as supermarkets made it more accessible to people. Dunnes Stores was the first supermarket to order 1,000 dozen and the brand was repackaged to enhance its appeal.

Plastic bottles and plastic labels arrived in the Eighties when Orange and Blackcurrant were the most popular flavours. MiWadi also caught on in bars where people asked for a ‘dash’ of it in their drinks.

During the Nineties, the brand was repackaged and heavily promoted; new flavours such as Orange and Pineapple were launched, as well as a new 2-litre range.

Britvic acquired MiWadi in 2007 as part of the C&C soft-drinks portfolio.

Products

MiWadi fruit squashes are all prepared from sun-ripened fruit and contain real fruit juice. They are sold in two pack sizes: 1 litre and 2 litre.

There are five regular flavours of MiWadi available in 1-litre packs — Orange, Blackcurrant, Lemon, Lime and Orange & Pineapple. Over 65pc of MiWadi is bought in the 1-litre size, and the orange flavour is the most popular.

MiWadi has six flavours available in the No Added Sugar 1-litre range — Orange, Blackcurrant, Summer Fruits, Orange & Pineapple, Tropical and Apple & Blackcurrant. This range contains about six kcals per 100ml undiluted.

You can buy 2 litres of Orange, No Added Sugar Orange, Blackcurrant, No Added Sugar Blackcurrant and Orange & Pineapple.

Innovation

Since it started out, MiWadi has introduced several innovations from improvements on the production line to new flavours and bottle sizes.

In 2005, the MiWadi family grew with the introduction of the Mi Juice Boost sub-range. These ready-to-drink packs were created as the perfect lunch-box drink. With no added sugar, no artificial colours or flavours and added vitamins, the packs deliver great-tasting drinks kids love and which mums and dads can feel good about giving them. Mi Juice Boost quickly became a hit in the school playground and is now one of the largest-selling ambient-juice ranges.

Marketing and promotion

A lot of people will remember the TV campaign launched in the Nineties: ‘My Goodness, MiWadi ... ’. It was followed by the ‘It’s not your Wadi it’s MiWadi’ campaign launched in 2001. This has been a big success for the brand, with strong recall, and has been largely responsible for the brand securing the No 1 market position.

New ads using that same memorable strapline were launched in 2007, with a new generation of MiWadi lovers – ‘Invisible Emma’ and ‘Flying Kevin’.

There was a series of successful promotions during the Seventies — Space Hoppers and the MiWadi ‘Measure Me’ chart — which captured the imagination of MiWadi drinkers.