Smithkline Beecham has introduced a new "tooth-friendly" Ribena, which it hopes will make inroads into the lucrative children's soft drink market. The promotion of Ribena Toothkind will be backed by a £250,000 (€317,430) PR and advertising campaign and is the biggest campaign for a Ribena brand in Ireland.

Part of the PR campaign included countrywide focus groups among dentists. The brand was launched in the UK last year with a television spot featuring Olympic swimmer Sharon Davies and the same ad will run here in the month of June. The concentrates market in Ireland is worth £15 million (€19.04 million) and the ready-to-drink market is worth £17.6 million.

Research conducted by the company showed that Irish children consume a massive 370 litres of soft drinks per child per year. According to Ms Elizabeth Reynolds, marketing manager for Smithkline Beecham, Ireland, the new drink was formulated in direct response to the British government, which was concerned about the prevalence of tooth decay among toddlers.

The new drink has been in development for the past four years and is currently patent-pending. The formulation will be available across the complete range of products, including concentrates and ready-to-drink cartons.