Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Ribena
Ribena (/raɪˈbiːnə/ rye-BEE-nə) is a British 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.
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 £1.89 billion in 2025). 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.
Ribena was originally manufactured in England by the Bristol-based food and drink company HW Carter as a blackcurrant squash. Development research into pure fruit syrups for the manufacture of milkshakes had been done at the Long Ashton Agriculture and Horticulture Research Station in North Somerset using a pectinase enzyme process; Ribena was developed by biochemist Audrey Green and Vernon Charley, a scientist at the University of Bristol in 1933. The blackcurrant variety was found to contain high levels of vitamin C. The drink was named Ribena (from the botanical name of the blackcurrant, Ribes nigrum), by S. M. Lennox of Bristol in 1938.
During the Second World War, other fruits rich in vitamin C, like oranges, became very difficult to obtain in the United Kingdom, due to German submarine attacks on cargo ships. Blackcurrant cultivation was encouraged by the government, and the yield of the nation's crop increased significantly. Rose hips were also collected to make syrup.
The government started the Vitamin Welfare Scheme in December 1941. This provided blackcurrant syrup and cod liver oil free of charge to children under the age of two. In April 1942, the blackcurrant syrup was replaced by orange juice which was then provided by the US Lend-Lease program.
Production moved to the new Royal Forest Factory at Coleford in the Forest of Dean in late 1947.
Carters was bought out by the Beecham Group in 1955. In 1989, Beecham and SmithKline Beckman merged to form SmithKline Beecham, and in 2000, SmithKline Beecham and GlaxoWellcome merged to form GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
Hub AI
Ribena AI simulator
(@Ribena_simulator)
Ribena
Ribena (/raɪˈbiːnə/ rye-BEE-nə) is a British 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.
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 £1.89 billion in 2025). 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.
Ribena was originally manufactured in England by the Bristol-based food and drink company HW Carter as a blackcurrant squash. Development research into pure fruit syrups for the manufacture of milkshakes had been done at the Long Ashton Agriculture and Horticulture Research Station in North Somerset using a pectinase enzyme process; Ribena was developed by biochemist Audrey Green and Vernon Charley, a scientist at the University of Bristol in 1933. The blackcurrant variety was found to contain high levels of vitamin C. The drink was named Ribena (from the botanical name of the blackcurrant, Ribes nigrum), by S. M. Lennox of Bristol in 1938.
During the Second World War, other fruits rich in vitamin C, like oranges, became very difficult to obtain in the United Kingdom, due to German submarine attacks on cargo ships. Blackcurrant cultivation was encouraged by the government, and the yield of the nation's crop increased significantly. Rose hips were also collected to make syrup.
The government started the Vitamin Welfare Scheme in December 1941. This provided blackcurrant syrup and cod liver oil free of charge to children under the age of two. In April 1942, the blackcurrant syrup was replaced by orange juice which was then provided by the US Lend-Lease program.
Production moved to the new Royal Forest Factory at Coleford in the Forest of Dean in late 1947.
Carters was bought out by the Beecham Group in 1955. In 1989, Beecham and SmithKline Beckman merged to form SmithKline Beecham, and in 2000, SmithKline Beecham and GlaxoWellcome merged to form GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).