Barr to cut sugar in fizzy drinks

Irn-Bru maker launches new recipe to beat Government levy

IRN-BRU maker AG Barr has given in to the so-called sugar tax by committing to cutting the amount of the sweet stuff from its best known brands over the next six months.

The Lanarkshire-based firm, which has previously criticised the “punitive” crackdown on the fizzy drinks industry and the “significant weight of negative media coverage” of sugary drinks, says that 90 per cent of its brands will contain less than 5g of total sugar per 100ml by the autumn.

The company, which also makes Tizer and Snapple, has been taking action to reformulate drinks in advance of the Government’s new levy coming into force next year.

Barr chief executive Roger White said: “Evidence shows that consumers want to reduce their sugar intake while still great-tasting drinks.

“We’ve responded by significantly reducing sugar across our portfolio in recent years, through reformulation and innovation.

“Today’s announcement builds on this progress and we are now expanding our successful sugar reduction plans to include our iconic Irn-Bru brand.”

In September, Barr said the contentious sugar tax, proposed by former chancellor George Osborne in March 2015 to combat child obesity “will be very complex, expensive and difficult to implement” enjoying and said it was a “punitive and unnecessary distortion to competition in the UK market”.

It had previously aimed to have at least two-thirds of its products either as no or low-sugar by the time the levy is introduced in April 2018 to avoid the tax.

Coca-Cola invested £10 million in 2016 in reformulating and promoting Coca-Cola Zero Sugar – its biggest UK launch in more than a decade.

The company expected to have more than half the Coca-Cola sold to escape the tax, instead of 45 per cent previously.

A study by Brand View found that more soft drinks now contain sweeteners than sugar. At Tesco, the UK’s largest grocer, 49.5 per cent of soft drinks had sweeteners against 42.5 per cent with sugar, according to its data.

But the British Soft Drinks Association, the main industry body, has previously said that worldwide evidence does not suggest that taxes of this sort have any impact on levels of obesity.

A Barr spokesman added: “It is well known that consumers are increasingly concerned about sugar and that most want to see lower levels of sugar in the soft drinks they buy. However, they also tell us just how important taste is, without compromise.

“Above all we know our loyal drinkers love Irn-Bru for its unique great taste. From autumn this year Irn-Bru will still have its unique great taste but with less sugar. Irn-Bru will remain a sugary drink, we are simply reducing the sugar level.”

The Cumbernauld-based firm said in February it was on track to meet full-year profit guidance, but flagged another challenging year ahead.

Last year, AG Barr announced it was cutting 90 jobs as part of a company-wide revamp expected to cost around £4m.