Britvic

Britvic is a British producer of soft drinks based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It produces soft drinks under the Britvic name, as well as several other brands. The original Britvic Company was founded during the 1930s as the British Vitamin Products Company, but had initially been started in a chemists in Chelmsford during 1850. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange from 2005 until it was acquired by the Carlsberg Group. Carlsberg's UK operations were merged with Britvic plc, becoming Carlsberg Britvic in January 2025, with Britvic Ltd being a wholly-owned subsidiary of the new business.

The company's origins started in 1850, when a chemistry based in Tindall Street, Chelmsford started making health tonic drinks as a sideline. During the 1930s, the shop owner Ralph Chapman developed a way to add Vitamin C and sugar to fruit juices that helped preserve the juice from deteriorating and provide a health drink, which were sold in small glass bottles. Chapman sold the company in 1938 to James McPherson who coined the name British Vitamin Products Company for these products and founded the company.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} The company registered the trademark for the Britvic name in 1941.^[8] By 1950, the company was making non-alcoholic Britvic juices and squashes plus the ASP alcoholic tomato cocktail brand.^[9][10] Two years later, advertising agency Auger & Turner, applied on behalf of the British Vitamin Products Company to the Postmaster General, to produce their first television commercial,^[11] however commercial television did not appear until 1955, by which time advertising agency Albert Pemberton had created the new advertising stream.^[12] During the same year, the company introduced Gold, a new drink that could be mixed with Gin.^[13] The company used the ballerina Nanci Crompton in their advertising at this time.^[14] In 1954, the company started work on a new factory in Chelmsford at the cost of £380,000 with it's landmark clock tower, which replaced several units that were spread across Chelmsford,^[5][15][16] while the business was acquired by wine and sherry manufacturers Vines Products.^[17] The company expanded into the vending machine business during 1954, offering businesses chilled Britvic fruit juices with a straw.^[18] Vine Products company meeting in 1956 stated that the sales of fruit juices had reached a new high.^[19]

Vines merged with Showerings of Shepton Mallet in 1961,^[20] and subsequently became a division of Allied Breweries in 1968 after its £108 million purchase of Britvic's parent, Showerings, Vines Products and Whiteways.^[21] The company changed its name to Britvic in 1971, with British Vitamin Products Company becoming a holding company for all of Allied's soft drink businesses.^[22]

The company first started producing drinks under licence in 1982 with the introduction of Dr Pepper.^[23] In 1986, Allied merged it's British Vitamin Products Company division into Britannia Soft Drinks, a company created in 1980 by Bass and Whitbread to manage their soft drink businesses.^[22] The merger saw Britvic come together with Canada Dry Rawlings and the R. White's Lemonade brand. It acquired the Corona Soft Drinks Company from Beechams in 1987, which included the Tango brand, and since that year it has also owned the UK franchise for Pepsi and 7 Up.^[24] In 1995, Britannia bought Robinson's from Unilever for £103 million, who sold the brand as part of its purchase of Reckitt & Colman food business.^[25][26]

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.^[27] In May 2007, the Company bought the soft drinks and distribution businesses of Ireland's Cantrell & Cochrane (C&C) for £169.5m.^[28]

On 14 November 2012, the company announced plans to merge with Scottish soft drink producer A.G. Barr, the maker of brands including Irn-Bru, Tizer and D'n'B, which would have created one of Europe's largest soft drinks companies.^[29] The merger was put into serious doubt^[30][31] after the Office of Fair Trading referred it to the Competition Commission.^[32] On 11 July 2013, A.G. Barr chairman, Ronnie Hanna, announced that the proposed merger had been abandoned.^[33]

In May 2017, PepsiCo announced that it had decided to sell its long-held 4.5 per cent stake in Britvic.^[34]

On 8 July 2024, it was announced that the Danish Carlsberg Group would buy Britvic. Carlsberg UK, Carlsberg Marston business was merged with Britvic, to create Carlsberg Britvic, creating the biggest PepsiCo drink licenser in the world. The transaction was approved by the court on 15 January 2025.^[35][36][37] The new group operate Britvic Ltd as a subsidiary company that produces the soft drinks.^[38][39]

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.^[40]

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.^[41]

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.^[42]

Britvic bought Fruité Entreprises in May 2010 for £298 million. It has since renamed the Britvic Teisseire International. It is mainly a fruit juice business, unlike the GB&I businesses that focus on soft drinks.^[43]

In 2015, Britvic acquired ebba (Empresa Brasileira de Bebidas e Alimentos SA), located in São Paulo,^[44] and in 2017 Bela Ischia, located in Rio de Janeiro.^[45]

Current brands are as follows:^[1]

• Official website