History

Ribena was originally manufactured 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 essentially invented there by Dr. Vernon Charley, a scientist at the University of Bristol[2] in 1933.[3] The blackcurrant variety was found to contain high levels of vitamin C. The drink was launched in 1936 under the name Ribena (from the botanical name for the blackcurrant, Ribes nigrum). During the Second World War, other fruits rich in vitamin C, like oranges (from Florida), became almost impossible to obtain in the United Kingdom, due to the U boat campaign. Blackcurrant cultivation was encouraged by the Government, and the yield of the nation's crop increased significantly. From 1942, almost the entire British blackcurrant crop was made into blackcurrant syrup (or cordial), almost all of it manufactured by Carters, and distributed to the nation's children for free without the Ribena brand name, giving rise to the lasting popularity of blackcurrant flavourings in Britain. Production moved to the new Royal Forest Factory[4] at Coleford in the Forest of Dean in the autumn of 1947, where production takes place today. Carters was bought out by the Beecham Group (now part of GlaxoSmithKline) in 1955.

There have been various incarnations of carbonated "Sparkling Ribena", sold in cans — throughout the 1980s and early 1990s there was a can-based version simply named "Ribena". In about 1993, "Ribena Spring" was launched, a gently carbonated version in ready to drink bottle form, which was discontinued and replaced with "Ribena Spark", another can-based carbonated edition, in the late 1990s. Ribena Spark was finally discontinued in 2011.

It is claimed in advertisements for Ribena (as well as on their cartons and bottles, and on their web-site) that 95% of all UK and Irish farmed blackcurrants are used in their drinks. This has now been changed to "nearly all of British blackcurrants are used in Ribena". Some of the juice for Ribena is pressed by Somerset-based cider maker Thatcher's.

In June 2007, a new raspberry flavoured Ribena was released; it was discontinued, and was relaunched in 2010.

In April 2008, Ribena released a new product with 100% juice content. According to the company's website, new juices have no sugar addition and contain higher amounts of vitamin C and other antioxidants.[citation needed] However, this product has not proved to be a success, and was discontinued in 2009.[citation needed]