Liverpool-HQd food and drink group Princes has agreed a partnership with Capri-Sun to produce over 250m pouches of the leading juice brand annually.
The inking of a new “long-term partnership agreement” between Princes and Capri-Sun will create between 50 to 60 jobs at Princes’ production facility in Bradford, Princes said.
It came after Capri-Sun ended a decade-long partnership with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) to produce, sell and distribute its drinks in western Europe.
Production of the drinks will transition to Princes throughout 2024, with four production lines moving to the Bradford site, Capri-Sun said. All lines should be fully operational by spring 2025, it added.
Princes will co-pack two Capri-Sun formats: 200ml pouches with paper straws and 330ml pouches with a screw cap, Capri-Sun said.
As part of the transition, the brand will move to recyclable pouches and introduce tethered caps on its 330ml pouches.
Capri-Sun said move would “support its ambition of becoming the UK’s most sustainable children’s soft drinks brand”.
Andy Hargraves, Princes group commercial director for drinks, said the company was excited to make its Bradford site “the new UK home of this iconic and much-loved brand”.
The site, which currently employs 400 people, already produces squash and juice drinks for several retailer own labels, as well as carbonated soft drinks.
Capri-Sun senior supply chain and operations executive Stefan Seiss added the tie-up would help “fulfil the demand and the quality to support the growth of Capri-Sun in Great Britain.”
The Capri-Sun brand is owned by German company Wild. It is sold in over 100 countries under various regional licensing agreements. It is one of the most popular juice brands in the world with roughly 6bn pouches sold globally in 2023.
