Phoenix joins Charlie's on Coles' shelves

Charlie's Group chief executive Stefan Lepionka Photo / supplied

Listed juice maker Charlie's has secured a deal to sell its Phoenix Organics brand in the 750 stores of Australian supermarket giant Coles.

The West Auckland-based firm will also trial a selection of its products in 205 BP-owned service stations across the Tasman over the next six months.

In October last year, Charlie's announced it would stock a range of Charlie's-branded juices in Coles, estimating the agreement had the potential to generate annual revenue of $7 million.

Chief executive Stefan Lepionka said yesterday that sales for Charlie's branded products at Coles had exceeded expectations, surpassing $7 million in the first six months.

He said he expected Phoenix products to generate revenue "in the millions of dollars" through their placement on the chilled shelves of the supermarket chain's outlets.

Nine products from the Phoenix range will be stocked by Coles from June.

The company said the initial order of 19,000 cases would fill around eight shipping containers.

Lepionka said Charlie's had managed to secure a 10 per cent share of the Australian chilled beverage market in the six months since the initial Coles deal.

"The addition of Phoenix Organics into Coles will take the total product count to 26 and reinforces the group's position as the third largest supplier in the chilled beverage category in Coles supermarkets."

Lepionka said Phoenix products had been available in Australia since 2001, though only in hotels, cafes and restaurants.

Charlie's acquired Phoenix in 2005 - the same year the juice maker listed on the NZX.

Shares closed up 2c at 30c last night.