The owners of Fruité Catalan, three co-operatives from France's southerly Roussillon region, were in talks on a supply deal with top supermarkets, understood to include Tesco, Asda Wal-Mart and Sainsbury's. The move will enable UK wine drinkers to sample one of the most successful and more controversial brands to emerge from the tears of France's wine industry problems. Some have dubbed Fruité Catalan the Bacardi Breezer of French wine because of its light, feminine style, complete with butterfly logo and heavy use of the colour pink. It has also caused a stir by printing images onto the bottle instead of using a label. Christophe Palmowski, head of marketing for the brand, shrugged off jibes from traditionalists. "I would say to them that we are in the 21st Century. We know it is a bad word in France, but we have good marketing. You have to speak to the consumer if you want to sell a lot of bottles," he told BeverageDaily.com. Fruité Catalan appears to have spoken to French consumers, particularly women and young people, since its launch in 2005. Palmowski said the brand sold 1.8m bottles in its homeland last year, and he aims to sell 500,000 in the first year in Britain. Retail price is likely to be around £4.99, and discounted at £3.99.
