Britvic recall a lesson to UK manufacturers

Britvic Soft Drinks has recalled all Robinsons Fruit Shoot and Fruit Shoot Hydro packs, featuring the new design cap, due to a packaging safety issue.

The company had identified that a small number of caps on Fruit Shoot had been damaged during the manufacturing process - posing a “very small” safety risk.

The newly designed cap said Britvic complied with all relevant EU legislation and standards as applied to small parts. As a precautionary measure, the company decided to make a full consumer recall of the products involved.

But, according to Dr Christos Tsinopoulos, a supply chain expert at Durham Business School, the Britvic recall is a lesson to other British manufacturers to get their supply chains in better working order.

“Taking a £25m hit and reputational damage for a bottle ‘cap’ design flaw is embarrassing,” said Tsinopoulos, who specialises in innovation and supply chain integration in the manufacturing and service industries.

“Britvic may have identified the problem early on but until the issue has been fully resolved, the company’s share price may continue to be hit,” he added. “Such recalls can have long lasting effects on brands.

“With the Robinsons Fruit Shoot brand valued at £96m, Britvic will have to carefully rethink its product testing methods as a clear signal to the outside world that this is not a systemic error but a one off.”