 Logo used since 2020 | |
| Type | Soft drink/fruit juice concentrate |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Suntory |
| Distributor | Suntory |
| Country of origin | England |
| Region of origin | Bristol |
| Introduced | 1938 (H.W. Carter & Co) |
| Colour | Purple |
| Flavour | Blackcurrant Strawberry Blueberry Orange |
| Website | www |
Ribena (/raɪˈbiːnə/ rye-BEE-nə) is a brand of blackcurrant-based soft drink (both uncarbonated and carbonated), and fruit drink concentrate designed to be mixed with water. It is available in bottles, cans and multi-packs. Originally of English origin, it was produced by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) until 2013, when the brand was sold to Japanese beverage conglomerate Suntory.
The brand originally had a strong reputation as a healthy product for children, stemming from its distribution to children as a vitamin C supplement during World War II by the British government. Beecham, a company that has been part of GSK since 2000, bought the brand in 1955 and developed many soft drink versions. A series of scandals in the 2000s, concerning vitamin C levels, sugar levels, and the amounts of actual fruit in some of the brands, damaged its reputation as a healthy product, and by 2013, the brand was widely regarded as a soft drink.[1]
In 2013, annual worldwide sales were around £500 million. That year, GSK sold Ribena and another consumer line, Lucozade, to the Japanese multinational Suntory for £1.35 billion (equivalent to £1.95 billion in 2023).[2] In April 2018, in the United Kingdom, Ribena's longstanding recipe was changed by the addition of artificial sweeteners in response to the introduction of a sugary drinks tax by the UK government.[3]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
BristolPostwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ^ "Sugar tax revolt: Meet the Ribena stockpilers". BBC News. 27 April 2018. Archived from the original on 13 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.