Delays and shortages of Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I’s (SBF GB&I) top Lucozade and Ribena lines, including its recent Blucozade launch, are to continue for several weeks, according to a major wholesaler.
The problems were attributed to a seven-day strike at the company’s Gloucestershire manufacturing plant in February. Despite a deal with union Unite averting further strike days, a message from the wholesaler to stores, seen by Better Retailing, said Suntory is “still experiencing supply disruption”.
Retailers are seeing limited access to Lucozade and Ribena, including the latest NPD Blucozade, as a national wholesaler has reported supply disruption due to industrial action..
“Our supplier is now working to recover from the impact of the industrial action,” the wholesaler warned.
The statement continued: “At present we remain on allocation from the supplier and will continue to experience disruption over the coming weeks with intermittent supply and will impact availability. On some products production will be delayed in order to recover on faster selling lines and will be temporarily blacklisted.
“The challenges have impacted availability on the suppliers’ latest [launch], Blucozade, and these lines too are affected and will have intermittent supply over the coming weeks.”
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The supply issues have hampered what Suntory had described as “the biggest Lucozade launch ever” – Blucozade. Retailers have reported strong sales but also claimed availability issues in depots were preventing shopper demand from being met.
Speaking to Better Retailing, Matthew Gouldsmith, channel director, wholesale, at Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I, said: “We reached an agreement with our union and employee representatives last month to conclude talks and end industrial action.
“We are experiencing some limited disruption to supply levels but our priority is making sure our drinks continue to reach our customers and shoppers. We have taken robust steps to improve availability, including significant production volumes through a third-party manufacturer.
“The demand for Blucozade from consumers has been incredible so far and we’re doing all we can to plan our supply in line with demand. Blucozade remains on track to be one of our strongest ever launches for Lucozade.”
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