Britvic responds to plastic cap debacle
13 July 2012
Britvic has reacted to the 'packaging safety issue' that followed the recalling of its Fruit Shoot bottles on 3 July. It led to the company's shares dropping more than 13%, and the news that delays in designing a new cap for the bottles could cost more than £20m.
Commenting on the Britvic recall, Dr Christos Tsinopoulos, supply chain expert, Durham Business School, says: “The Britvic Fruit Shoot recall is a lesson to other British manufacturers to get their supply chains in better working order. Taking a £25m hit and reputational damage for a bottle ‘cap’ design flaw is embarrassing.
“Britvic may have identified the problem early on but until the issue has been fully resolved, the company’s share price may continue to be hit. Such recalls can have long lasting effects on brands.
“With the Robinsons Fruit Shoot brand valued at £96m, Britvic will have to carefully rethink its product testing methods as a clear signal to the outside world that this is not a systemic error but a one off.”
Dr Christos Tsinopoulos, is a Senior Lecturer in Operations & Project Management at Durham Business School, and specialises in various aspects of innovation and supply chain integration in the manufacturing and service industries.
Meanwhile, BBC is reporting that the recall of the Fruit Shoot drink bottle was sparked by a six-year-old boy choking on a plastic cap. Britvic recalled the "spill proof" Fruit Shoot and Fruit Shoot Hydro bottles after the cap lodged in Alexander Farries' throat.
Shelley Farries, of Colchester in Essex, told the BBC that the six-year-old Alexander started gasping while drinking. The cap was dislodged and he was not harmed.
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