• Home
• GSK in focus - Purple haze: making Ribena

Purple haze: making Ribena

Ribena has been a well-loved British brand for over 70 years. But how is Ribena Blackcurrant squash produced?

Ribena is one of the biggest users of all the blackcurrant crops in the UK.  And that‘s a lot of fruit. It has been estimated that if the billions of blackcurrants harvested for Ribena in the UK were laid end to end they would go around the world three times, though why anyone would actually want to do this remains a mystery.

Watching the weather

Harvest starts in July and lasts for about eight weeks. Weather conditions are crucial. "We want a frost-free spring, good steady rain in May and June and, of course, a sunny harvesting season to ensure a good crop", explains Michael Dunsire, who is in charge of finding the raw materials for GlaxoSmithKline’s nutritional products.

GSK has been supporting work at the Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI) for more than 15 years to develop new blackcurrants varieties that cope with difficult weather patterns. They completed a three year trial of two new varieties, Ben Vane and Ben Klibreck, which were harvested for the first time in 2007 and have been specially bred to withstand the effects of climate change.

All the blackcurrants that go in the Ribena squash in the UK are grown by a handful of British growers, some of whom the brand has worked with for over 60 years and three generations. Today’s growers are passing on their skills, and farms, to their children.

"Tickling" the berries

Pickers have now given way to harvesters, but harvesters with a difference.  Blackcurrant harvesters do not cut the berries off the bush – they “tickle” them off. The berries on blackcurrant bushes ripen all at the same time, which makes picking them easier. Speed is crucial. Blackcurrants are not long lasting and hence most of them are pressed into juice within 24 hours.

A lot of fresh fruit

Every year GSK processes billions of blackcurrants which are made into concentrate and taken to the Ribena plant at Coleford, Gloucestershire in the UK, where it is held in tanks beneath the factory and is bottled as needed throughout the year.

Working with The Wildlife Trusts

The supply chain producing Ribena bottles is very important and improvements are constantly being made. For a number of years, the Ribena blackcurrant growers in the UK have worked together with The Wildlife Trusts - one of the largest conservation charities committed to all UK’s wildlife - to promote wildlife-friendly farming across the Ribena blackcurrant farms.

In 2004, The Wildlife Trusts and the makers of Ribena worked together to develop some straightforward plans which the farmers could put in place to enhance the environment for wildlife. In 2007 they went further with this and developed species specific plans for each farm outlining actions that each individual farmer could take to maximise the benefit for certain species.