Maine and Football Special scores in Australia

Maine Soft Drinks in Ballymoney has won its first business in Australia for a range of lemonade products including a unique Foodball Special beverage, a non alcoholic drink that pours like a beer and forms a head.

The company has supplied its first consignment of soft drinks to Emerald Foods, a leading distributor of distinctively Irish products in Australia, in Sydney.

In addition to the McDaids Football Special, Maine, one of the best known producers of soft drinks in Northern Ireland, will supply flavours such as Bubblegum and Cloudy Lime, Pineapple and Attaboy!, a mixed fruit soft drink which has been popular in Belfast households for many years.

The deal follows an initial approach to the managing director of Emerald Foods, Eamonn Eastwood, who is keen to expand his existing portfolio of top selling Irish food and drink.

"We sent an initial batch of samples to Emerald Foods to test market among its existing network of customers including supermarkets and independents. Irish products are popular in many parts of Australia because of the historic links between the countries," says Maine commercial manager William McLaughlin.

"The feedback, especially for the Football Special drink that we've been producing on behalf of McDaids for the past nine months, was extremely positive and the initial order followed from Emerald Foods.

"Football Special is a cola type drink with a caramel flavour that foams into a beer-like head when poured. It's also made from seven fruits which give it a very strong flavour. Australia, of course, is a big sporting nation. Football Special appears to be plugging the market gap for a non-alcoholic drink that pours and looks like a beer," he adds.

The Australian business in Maine's first outside the British Isles. It supplies soft drinks to established customers in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

Maine Soft Drinks, the Northern Irish producer, has developed new product ranges to help grow its sales in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

The company, a fourth generation family business, employs over 100 people in Ballymoney in County Antrim, is among the best-known Northern Irish companies. It has specialised in returnable glass bottles for home delivery in Northern Ireland which still remains a very important part of its business, however Maine has recently launched new plastic bottle ranges in 1 Litre and 500ml sizes. Major retailers such as Asda, Tesco and Spar are among its customer base.

It has a range of over 30 flavours including flavoured waters and sugar free, for virtually every possible taste.

The company, which has its roots in soft drinks in county Antrim stretching back to 1919, began processing at Ballymoney in 1959. The family business currently supplies soft drinks to around 40,000 homes across Northern Ireland on a weekly basis.