A.G. Barr plc, commonly known as Barr's, is a

soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...

manufacturer based in

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...

, Scotland. It is widely known for manufacturing the drink

Irn-Bru Irn-Bru ( "iron brew", ) is a Scottish carbonated soft drink, often described as "Scotland's other national drink" (after whisky). Introduced in 1901, the drink is produced in Westfield, Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, by A.G. Barr of Glasgow ...

. It is listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

and is a constituent of the

FTSE 250 Index The FTSE 250 Index ( "Footsie") is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions and demotions to and from the index occur quarterly in March, June, Septemb ...

History

The company was founded in 1875 by Robert Barr in

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

. In 1887, his son, Robert Fulton Barr, set up a division of the original company in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, which had a much larger population. In 1892 the Glasgow branch passed to Andrew Greig Barr (where the name A.G. Barr comes from), a brother of the branch's founder. In 1899, they soft launched Irn Bru, eventually launching it in 1901. The Falkirk and Glasgow divisions merged in 1959, and the company was listed on the

in 1965. In 1972, A.G. Barr acquired the

Tizer Tizer is a red-coloured, citrus-flavoured soft drink bottled in Cumbernauld and sold in the United Kingdom. The name originally comes from the phrase "Tizer the Appetizer". It was launched in 1924 by Fred and Tom Pickup of Pudsey when it was ...

brand. In 2001 the company acquired Findlays Mineral Water which is sourced in the Lammermuir Hills. In 2002, Roger White joined A.G. Barr as managing director, and in 2004 became the first chief executive from outside the Barr family. The Company acquired

Forfar Forfar ( sco, Farfar, gd, Baile Fharfair) is the county town of Angus, Scotland and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town has a p ...

-based Strathmore Mineral Water in May 2006. The Irn-Bru 32 energy drink variant was launched in 2006. In 2008 the company purchased the Taut sports drink range and exotic fruit drink company

Rubicon The Rubicon ( la, Rubico; it, Rubicone ; rgn, Rubicôn ) is a shallow river in northeastern Italy, just north of Rimini. It was known as Fiumicino until 1933, when it was identified with the ancient river Rubicon, famously crossed by Julius Ca ...

. In November 2012, the company agreed to merge with

Britvic Britvic plc is a British producer of soft drinks based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It produces soft drinks under its own name, and several other brands. Hist ...

, which produces drinks like

J2O J2O is a still soft drink made from fruit juices. It is manufactured by Britvic and sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its launch in 1998 was led by Sheraz Dar who joined Britvic in 1994, and was aimed at providing an alternative solutio ...

Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

and Robinsons, as well as holding the authority to produce

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

for the UK market, to create one of Europe's largest soft drinks companies. The merger was abandoned in July 2013. In December 2022, the company acquired

Boost Drinks Boost Drinks Limited is a British drinks company that sells primarily energy and sports drinks through convenience stores, independent retail chains and petrol forecourts. It was established in 2001 and is headquartered in Leeds. History Th ...

for £20 million from founders Simon and Alison Gray.

Operations

A.G. Barr produces a variety of soft drinks from production sites at

and

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

. Irn-Bru was launched in 1901.

Brands

energy and sports drink acquired in December 2022 *

Scotland's most popular soft drink *

bought in 1972 *Barr Flavours including Cola, Lemonade, Limeade and Cherryade *

Bundaberg Bundaberg is a city in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia, and is the tenth largest city in the state. Bundaberg's regional area has a population of 70,921, and is a major centre of the Wide Bay–Burnett geographical region. The Bun ...

(manufactured under license for the UK and Ireland markets) *D'N'B dandelion and burdock *KA *OMJ! *

Rubicon Drinks Rubicon Exotic Juices (Rubicon Food Products Limited) is a beverage manufacturer based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. The company specializes in producing juice drinks from exotic fruits. Events Rubicon in 2010 won M award for the favouri ...

* San Benedetto soft drinks (manufactured under license for the UK market) *Simply Fruity *

Snapple Snapple is a brand of tea and juice drinks which is owned by Keurig Dr Pepper and based in Plano, Texas, United States. The company (and brand), which was originally known as Unadulterated Food Products, was founded in 1972. The brand achieved som ...

(manufactured under license for the UK and Ireland markets) *Strathmore Scottish spring water *Sun Exotic *Xyber energy drinks

References

External links

Official site
{{FTSE 250 Index constituents British companies established in 1875 Companies based in North Lanarkshire Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Family-owned companies of Scotland Food and drink companies established in 1875 Drink companies of Scotland Scottish brands Soft drinks manufacturers 1875 establishments in Scotland