Britvic

Last updated

Britvic plc
Company typePublic
LSE:  BVIC
FTSE 250 Component
Industry Soft drinks
Founded1938;86 years ago (1938)
Headquarters Hemel Hempstead, England, UK
Key people
Products Fruit Shoot
Licensee: Lipton
Brands Club Orange
RevenueIncrease2.svg £1,748.6 million (2023) [1]
Decrease2.svg £181.5 million (2023) [1]
Decrease2.svg £124.0 million (2023) [1]
Number of employees
4,537 (2023) [1]
Subsidiaries Robinsons
Website www.britvic.com

Britvic plc is a British producer of soft drinks based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It produces soft drinks under its own name, and several other brands.

Contents

History

Canned fruit juices by Britvic (2011) Britvic drinks 2636.JPG
Canned fruit juices by Britvic (2011)

The company was founded in the 1930s in Chelmsford as the British Vitamin Products Company. [2] [3] It started producing fruit juices in 1938 and started marketing them under the Britvic name in 1949. [4] Acquired by Showerings of Shepton Mallet, and subsequently a division of Allied Breweries from 1968, the company changed its name to Britvic in 1971. In 1986, it merged with Canada Dry Rawlings and acquired the R. White's Lemonade brand. It acquired Tango and the Corona brand from Beechams in 1987 and since that year it has also owned the UK franchise for Pepsi and 7 Up. [5] In 1995, it bought Robinson's from Reckitt & Colman. [6]

In December 2005, the company underwent an initial public offering (IPO) allowing its main shareholders (InterContinental Hotels Group, Whitbread, Pernod Ricard) to realise their investments. [7] In May 2007, the Company bought the soft drinks and distribution businesses of Ireland's Cantrell & Cochrane (C&C) for £169.5m. [8]

On 14 November 2012, the company announced plans to merge with Scotland's soft drink's producer A.G. Barr, whose brands include Irn-Bru, Tizer and D'n'B, which would have created one of Europe's largest soft drinks companies. [9] The merger was put into serious doubt [10] [11] after the Office of Fair Trading referred the merger to the Competition Commission. [12] On 11 July 2013, A.G. Barr Chairman Ronnie Hanna announced that the proposed merger of Britvic and A.G. Barr had been abandoned. [13]

In May 2017, PepsiCo announced that it had decided to sell up to all of its long-held 4.5 per cent stake in Britvic. [14]

On 8 July 2024, it was announced that the Danish Carlsberg Group would buy Britvic. Upon completion Britvic will rebrand under the Carlsberg umbrella, with the brewery company becoming the biggest PepsiCo drink licenser in the world. The acquisition will be complete by 2025. It is expected once the sale is complete Britvic will be combined with the operations of the Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company (CMBC) a review of the business will then take place and employees and stakeholders will be notified of the future of the business when appropriate. [15] [16] [17]

Operations

Britvic House, the old Britvic headquarters in Chelmsford Britvicbuilding.jpg
Britvic House, the old Britvic headquarters in Chelmsford

Most of the company's operations are concentrated in the United Kingdom and Ireland and the company exports to over 50 countries. Its corporate headquarters moved from Chelmsford, Essex to Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, in March 2012. [18]

United Kingdom

The drink brands the company owns in the UK include Britvic mixers, R. White's Lemonade, Tango, Robinson's and J2O as well as being the licensed bottler for PepsiCo products within the UK. In 2008, Britvic launched Gatorade in the UK, after securing the rights to do so from PepsiCo. In May 2010, Britvic launched a UK specific version of the popular drink, Mountain Dew Energy. It tastes similar to its American counterpart, but has a lower caffeine and sugar content. [19]

Ireland

Britvic facility in Gortrush Industrial Estate in Northern Ireland (2008) Britvic, Northern Ireland - geograph.org.uk - 917651.jpg
Britvic facility in Gortrush Industrial Estate in Northern Ireland (2008)

After their failed IPO C&C's sold their soft drink brands to Britvic, resulting in the company now owning a number of brands in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, including, Ballygowan Water, Britvic, Cidona, MiWadi, and Energise Sport as well as the rights to the Pepsi and 7 Up brands in the territory through its bottling agreements with PepsiCo. [20]

France

Britvic bought Fruité Entreprises in May 2010 for £298 million. It has since renamed the business Britvic France. It is mainly a fruit juice business, unlike the GB&I businesses that focus on soft drinks. [21]

Brazil

In 2015, Britvic acquired ebba (Empresa Brasileira de Bebidas e Alimentos SA), located in São Paulo, [22] and in 2017 Bela Ischia, located in Rio de Janeiro. [23]

Current brands

Current brands are as follows: [1]

Dilutes

Water

Carbonated soft drinks

Other

Licensed from PepsiCo

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irn-Bru</span> Scottish carbonated soft drink

Irn-Bru is a Scottish carbonated soft drink, often described as "Scotland's other national drink". Introduced in 1901, the drink is produced in Westfield, Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, by A.G. Barr of Glasgow. As well as being sold throughout the United Kingdom, Irn-Bru is available throughout the world and can usually be bought where there is a significant community of people from Scotland. The brand also has its own tartan. It has been the top-selling soft drink in Scotland for over a century, competing directly with global brands such as Coca-Cola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tango (drink)</span> British fruit-flavoured soft drink brand

Tango is a carbonated soft drink originating in the United Kingdom, primarily sold in the UK and Ireland. It was first launched by Corona in 1950. Corona was purchased by the Beecham Group in 1958, and Corona Soft Drinks by Britvic in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squash (drink)</span> Non-alcoholic concentrated syrup

Diluting juice, is a non-alcoholic beverage with syrup used in beverage making. It is usually fruit-flavoured, made from fruit juice, water, and sugar or a sugar substitute. Modern squashes may also contain food colouring and additional flavouring. Some traditional squashes contain herbal extracts, most notably elderflower and ginger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A.G. Barr</span> British soft drink producer

A.G. Barr plc, commonly known as Barr's, is a Scottish soft drink and energy drink manufacturer based in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, Scotland widely known for manufacturing the drink Irn-Bru. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minute Maid</span> American beverage company

Minute Maid is an American product line of beverages, usually associated with lemonade or orange juice, but which now extends to soft drinks of different kinds, including Hi-C. Minute Maid is sold under the Cappy brand in Central Europe and under the brand "Моя Семья" in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Minute Maid was the first company to market frozen orange juice concentrate, allowing it to be distributed throughout the United States and served year-round. The Minute Maid Company is owned by The Coca-Cola Company, the world's largest marketer of fruit juices and drinks. The firm opened its headquarters in Sugar Land Town Square in Sugar Land, Texas, United States, on February 16, 2009; previously it was headquartered in the 2000 St. James Place building in Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orange soft drink</span> Type of carbonated drinks

Orange soft drinks are carbonated orange drinks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropicana Products</span> Orange/fruit juice and soft drink maker

Tropicana Brands is an American fruit-based beverage company. It was founded in 1947 by Anthony T. Rossi in Bradenton, Florida. Between 1998 and 2021 it was a subsidiary of PepsiCo. In August 2021, 61% of Tropicana was sold along with the rest of PepsiCo's juice brand portfolio for $3.3 billion to PAI Partners. PepsiCo retained the remaining 39% of the companies ownership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fruitopia</span> Fruit-flavored drink made by the Coca Cola Company

Fruitopia is a fruit-flavored drink introduced by the Coca-Cola Company's successful Minute Maid brand in 1994 and targeted at teens and young adults. According to New York Times business reports, it was invented as part of a push by Minute Maid to capitalize on the success of Snapple and other flavored tea drinks. The brand gained substantial hype in the mid-1990s before enduring lagging sales by the decade's end. While still available in Canada and Australia as a juice brand, in 2003, Fruitopia was phased out in most of the United States where it had struggled for several years. However, select flavors have since been revamped under Minute Maid. Use of the Fruitopia brand name continues through various beverages in numerous countries, including some McDonald's restaurant locations in the United States, which carry the drink to this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain Dew Amp</span> Energy drink brand

Mountain Dew Amp is an energy drink brand produced by PepsiCo. At the time of its introduction in 2001, Amp Energy was initially distributed under the Mountain Dew soft drink brand. Beginning in 2009, it was produced and labeled under its own stand-alone trademark name, but in 2018, reverted to using Mountain Dew branding. The beverage is packaged in both 16-ounce and 24-ounce cans, and is sold in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Lebanon. As of 2009, Amp Energy was the number four energy drink brand in the U.S. in terms of overall retail sales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Club (soft drink)</span>

Club is the brand name for a series of Irish carbonated soft drinks produced in Ireland by Britvic Ireland and previously by Cantrell & Cochrane (C&C). It is bottled by the Britvic plant in Dublin. The series includes Club Orange, Club Lemon, Club Rock Shandy and Club Apple soft drinks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. White's</span> British brand of carbonated lemonade

R. White's is a British brand of a carbonated lemonade, which is produced and sold in the United Kingdom by Britvic. Robert and Mary White produced the first R. White's lemonade in Camberwell, south London, in 1845. The White Family took over H. D. Rawlings Ltd. in 1891, the year that it was incorporated—a merger which made White's the biggest soft drinks company in London and the south-east—and then R. White & Sons Ltd. was itself incorporated in 1894. The company was taken over by Whitbread in the 1960s, and was later absorbed by Britvic in 1986, when Britvic and Canada Dry Rawlings Ltd. merged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robinsons (drink)</span> English fruit drink brand

Robinsons is a British fruit drink brand, now owned by Britvic plc, that has been operating for over 200 years, predominantly offering fruit cordials. The Robinsons range includes Squash, Fruit Shoot, Barley Water and Fruit Creations.

Schweppes Australia is the non-alcohol business of Asahi Breweries operating in Australia. It is now known as Asahi Lifestyle Beverage having originally arrived in the country in 1850. In 1877, the first factory was built in Sydney. After an international merger with Cadbury in 1969, forming Cadbury Schweppes, the company was eventually re-separated on 27 February 2009 and, in April 2009, Schweppes Australia was acquired by Asahi Breweries.

Barr Britvic Soft Drinks plc was a proposed company to be formed by the merger of two British soft drink manufacturers, A.G. Barr and Britvic. Former Britvic shareholders were to own 63 percent of the combined entity, whilst Barr shareholders would have held 37 percent. Measured by revenue, it would have been one of the largest soft drink companies in Europe. The company would have had annual sales of more than £1.5 billion and would have employed around 4,300 staff members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teisseire (company)</span> French soft drinks manufacturer

Teisseire is a French manufacturer and brand of flavoured syrups. Although primarily used for creating soft drinks when diluted with water, they are also used in making cocktails and flavoured coffee. The company was founded in Grenoble in 1720 by Mathieu Teisseire and remained in his immediate family until the mid-19th century. After François Reynaud purchased the company in 1907, it was run by four generations of the Reynaud family until 2004 when it was acquired by Fruité Entreprises. Since 2010 the company has been owned by the British soft drinks manufacturer and distributor Britvic. Teisseire's main manufacturing plant is situated in Crolles near Grenoble. Although the company's products are now exclusively non-alcoholic, it was originally famous for its cherry liqueur, Ratafia de Teisseire, which was manufactured well into the 20th century.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Annual Report 2023" (PDF). Britvic. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  2. "Where we operate". Britvic. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  3. Britvic to close Chelmsford factory and put hundreds out of work BBC News, 22 May 2013
  4. 500 staff – and Britvic chief – face axe in merger with AG Barr The Independent (London), 15 November 2012
  5. A simple approach to coaching makes a difference at Britvic Coaching & Mentoring Network
  6. "Robinsons - Long linked with the Wimbledon tennis championships, the drinks-maker is today about more than barley water". Campaign Live. 1 August 2002. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  7. Britvic IPO to value drinks group at up to £537m Financial Times (London), 25 November 2005
  8. Britvic Agrees to Buy C&C's Soft-Drinks Division CNBC, 14 May 2007
  9. AG Barr and Britvic agree to merger BBC News, 14 November 2012
  10. "UPDATE 1-Britvic merger with A.G. Barr under threat". Reuters. 13 February 2013. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  11. Ruddick, Graham (13 February 2013). "AG Barr and Britvic merger thwarted by the Office of Fair Trading". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  12. "OFT refers soft drinks merger to Competition Commission - The Office of Fair Trading". Oft.gov.uk. 13 February 2013. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  13. "AG Barr abandons bid for Britvic". BBC News. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  14. "PepsiCo Plans To Sell All Of Its 4.5% Stake In Britvic". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  15. Corser, John (9 July 2024). "Beer giant fails to commit to future of Wolverhampton brewery after Marston's sale announced". www.expressandstar.com.
  16. Wehring, Olly (8 July 2024). "Carlsberg gets green light for Britvic acquisition". Global Drinks Intel. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  17. "Carlsberg agrees £3.3bn takeover fee of Britvic - Drinks International - The global choice for drinks buyers". drinksint.com. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  18. Dawson, Freddie (23 March 2012). "Britvic to create 30 jobs in HQ move". foodmanufacture.co.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  19. "Britvic launches Mountain Dew Energy". Just Drinks. 31 March 2010. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  20. "Britvic Ireland returns to growth". Irish Examiner. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  21. "Britvic to buy France's Fruite for €237m". The Daily Telegraph. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  22. "Britvic enters Brazilian market as it snaps up soft drink maker Ebba". The Daily Telegraph. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  23. "Britvic to acquire Brazilian juice firm Bela Ischia for £54.5m". Irish News. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2019.