Suntory Beverage and Food GB&I (SBF GB&I), the producer of Lucozade and Ribena, celebrated 80 years since construction began on its Coleford factory in the Forest of Dean.

Known to most people locally as the ‘Ribena factory’, the famous blackcurrant drink has been manufactured there since 1947 when production first began. Later, Lucozade was incorporated onto site in 1957.

Even with eight decades of manufacturing behind it, the factory looks forward to a bright future, with Suntory - the Japanese owners that acquired the Lucozade and Ribena brands in 2014 - continuing to invest multi-million pound sums to evolve a site that produces some of Britain’s best-loved soft drinks.

Investment includes a new £25m manufacturing line due to start production in 2027 and £14.5m on a next-generation blackcurrant processing facility in Ledbury.

Sustainability projects remain central to long-term growth. In the past six years, over £13 million has been spent to significantly improve the recyclability of the ready to drink bottles produced at the factory, reducing the size of the plastic sleeve on bottles of Ribena, Lucozade Sport and Lucozade Energy. £6m is also being spent on an electrification project to reduce the factory’s reliance on its gas turbine which is expected to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 58% once completed, putting SBF GB&I years ahead of its 2030 50% reduction target.

Beyond investment, support from Suntory over the last ten years has helped the site continue to nurture the knowledge, dedication and skills of generations of local people working in Coleford as it produces these iconic drinks. One of the largest Suntory-owned facilities in Europe, the factory produces more than 420 million of litres of Lucozade and Ribena each year, supplying customers across Great Britain and Ireland.