Britvic expands footprint in Brazil

The Board of Britvic plc announced the completion of the acquisition of the Extra Power energy drink brand from GlobalBev following receipt of regulatory clearance. As part of the transaction, Britvic has also agreed to acquire three additional Brazilian soft drinks brands from GlobalBev, including the energy brand Flying Horse, the juice brand Juxx and the acai smoothie brand Amazoo.

Collectively, this acquisition in Brazil enables Britvic to expand its brand portfolio and regional footprint. Energy is the fastest growing category in the market with volume growing 17 % in 20221 on the previous year and forecast to grow 20 % year-on-year in 20232. Within this category, Extra Power has broad-based distribution and 42 % market share3 in its core regions near Brasilia, while Flying Horse was the first international energy brand to enter Brazil around 20 years ago. Juxx is a premium juice brand with added health benefits, and Amazoo is an acai-based premium smoothie. In the year to December 2022, the acquired portfolio generated R$ 118 m of net sales, growing 26 % on the previous year.

This marks an important extension of Britvic’s Brazilian operations, consistent with Britvic’s strategy to accelerate and expand its presence across Brazil. The acquisition also includes a modern, efficient warehouse in Brasilia that will enhance Britvic’s supply chain efficiency across its wider portfolio and route to market into Brazil’s Centre-West region.

Simon Litherland, Chief Executive Officer commented: “The addition of these brands to our Brazilian portfolio will accelerate our growth trajectory in one of our key markets, as well as generate value overall. In line with our strategy to expand our business and accelerate our growth in Brazil, we now have a meaningful presence in the Centre-West region, providing the opportunity to scale our existing brands into territories where we’ve historically under-indexed, while also bringing new brands into our existing market regions.”

Britvic first entered the Brazilian market in 2015 with the acquisition of Ebba, followed by the acquisition of Bela Ischia in 2017. Since then, Britvic has developed fruit favourites such as Maguary, Dafruta and Bela Ischia into strong national presences known for innovation.

The Maguary brand heritage dates back to 1953 and, similar to the European flavour concentrates brands, is consumed by families at home. This heritage and family awareness enabled Fruit Shoot to be launched in Brazil as Maguary Fruit Shoot – following the same approach Britvic has followed in Europe, where Robinsons and Teisseire are the halo brands. New category launches in recent years have included Puro Coco and Natural Tea, both of which are ready-to-drink formats in the coconut and iced tea categories. More recently, the Brazilian team has expanded Maguary’s presence further, launching a plant-based chocolate drink.

Dafruta Tropical was launched in the flavour concentrates category, utilising the technical know-how of the Robinsons formulation. This new range uses real fruit, has a range of flavours and is pre-sweetened, differentiating it from the traditional concentrates in Brazil which require sugar to be added by the consumer. More recently the portfolio has expanded with the launch of Britvic Mixers and the premium Mathieu Teisseire range of concentrates for cocktails.

The growth market for fruit drinks in Brazil is perfectly complemented by Britvic’s fruit growing and fruit processing company, Be Ingredient, providing natural ingredients for Britvic and the international market.

¹Nielsen Energy Market Data all regions
²Global Data volume forecast by category
³Nielsen Data