Since 2015 and the beginning of the story of Britvic in Brazil, we’ve been on an inspiring growth journey, giving ways for people enjoy life’s everyday moments in all corners of the world. I feel proud of the amazing work we’ve achieved contributing to our people, planet and performance objectives and excited for what’s to come.
At Britvic Brazil, we’re moving at a fast pace and in recent years have welcomed premium and internationally known brands, such as the London Essence Company and Mathieu Teisseire, to our portfolio – allowing us to access a new market beyond our strong presence in the juices and coconut water categories. Most recently, we launched two Britvic mixer flavours, Green Apple and Pink Lemonade, exclusive to the Brazilian market. This brilliant flavour innovation marked the first of its kind outside the UK market and followed the UK launch of the brand’s first flavoured tonic, Elderflower, in April 2021.
While the mixers portfolio is still evolving, sales of healthier products are doubling every year in alignment with consumer trends and behaviour. The growth of the wellness category is a key focus for us with our organic drinks, plant-based milks and functional teas brands – Pressade, Nuts and Natural Tea.
In addition to our products, an important growth area for Britvic Brazil is our busines-to-business fruit-processing brand, Be Ingredient. Created in 2018, Be Ingredient offers Brazilian flora in diverse formats – from raw fruit to valuable by-products such as aromas. The business meets the needs of partners worldwide, with a strong relationship with Brazilian agricultural producers and an investment in technology and process automation to improve product quality and ensure sustainable cultivation. The world has always needed natural Brazilian ingredients, and there was a lack of producers with environment, society and safety at the heart of their operations – so we’re proud to develop Brazilian agribusiness and offer a sustainable solution.
As a nation, we care about protecting the environment and that ethos is at the core of our business at Britvic Brazil. Since 2017, we have substantially reduced our carbon emissions. In line with our company's mission to create a better tomorrow, we continue to see the benefits of moving to biomass boilers in our factories and we recently installed a fourth new biomass boiler at our Aracati factory as part of our decarbonisation strategy, such as the Britvic Forest, which helps in reforestation, with more than 10 hectares planted.
At the start of the year, we leased a new manufacturing facility in Flores da Cunha in Rio Grande do Sul. This investment in the factory will produce more than 6,000 tonnes of concentrated grape juice this year and will enable us to continue our vertical integration by increasing grape processing closer to its source and thereby reduce logistics costs and road miles.
As a team, we have a lot to celebrate and I’m so proud of what we have achieved together and looking forward to continuing on our journey to become the most dynamic soft drinks company, creating a better tomorrow.
Pedro Magalhães | Managing Director, Britvic Brazil