UK food-and-drinks group Princes is to manufacture Capri-Sun pouched drinks in the country from later this year.
The undefined “long-term” deal sees production move from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP).
Four production lines will be transferred from CCEP to Princes’ Bradford facility. Production is set to start this autumn.
“We are very excited to go into this collaboration between Princes and Capri-Sun. Over the last months the supply chain and engineering departments were working very closely together to prepare the transition of the production lines into the Bradford site,” Stefan Seiss at Capri-Sun Group Holding AG said.
“It is great to see that the expertise and the positive attitude on both sides will deliver a new production setup to fulfill the demand and the quality to support the growth of Capri-Sun in Great Britain.”
Just Drinks has approached CCEP for comment.
Princes has started to take control of Capri-Sun’s warehousing and logistics duties. The company, owned by Japan's Mitsubishi Corp., will produce the Capri-Sun 200ml pouches with paper straws and 330ml pouches with a screw cap at the Bradford site.
The facility is Princes' largest manufacturing site for beverages, with roughly 400 staff operating eight production lines. The group has two other facilities dedicated to beverage manufacturing: one in Glasgow, where canned CSDs are made and another in Cardiff where it produces chilled ambient juices.
Andy Hargraves, group commercial director for drinks at Princes, said: “Establishing this partnership is a significant milestone in the continued growth of our drinks business, creating around 50 to 60 new job opportunities in the local area."
Mitsubishi acquired Liverpool-based Princes in 1989. At that time, Princes focused mainly on the import and distribution of shelf-stable food such as tinned fish. The company’s product range now also includes edible oils and beverages.
Last month, Newlat, the Italy-based food manufacturer, halted negotiations to buy Princes after its offer was rejected.
