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.co.uk

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]

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. [15]

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. [16]

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. [17]

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. [18]

Brazil

In 2015, Britvic acquired ebba (Empresa Brasileira de Bebidas e Alimentos SA), located in São Paulo, [19] and in 2017 Bela Ischia, located in Rio de Janeiro. [20]

Current brands

Current brands are as follows: [1]

Dilutes

Water

Carbonated soft drinks

Other

Licensed from PepsiCo

Related Research Articles

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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.

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<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.

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<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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Corbett</span>

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

Robinsons is a British fruit drink brand owned by Britvic. Robinsons was owned by Reckitt & Colman until 1995 when it was acquired by Britvic. The Robinsons range includes Fruit Shoot, Fruit Squash, No Added Sugar Fruit Squash, Fruit & Barley, Barley water, Select and Squash'd; the range formerly also included Fruit Spring. For the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II, Strawberry and Cream was added to the range.

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<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. Dawson, Freddie (23 March 2012). "Britvic to create 30 jobs in HQ move". foodmanufacture.co.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  16. "Britvic launches Mountain Dew Energy". Just Drinks. 31 March 2010. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  17. "Britvic Ireland returns to growth". Irish Examiner. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  18. "Britvic to buy France's Fruite for €237m". The Daily Telegraph. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  19. "Britvic enters Brazilian market as it snaps up soft drink maker Ebba". The Daily Telegraph. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  20. "Britvic to acquire Brazilian juice firm Bela Ischia for £54.5m". Irish News. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2019.