Carlsberg talks up ‘significant’ growth opportunities for Britvic

Carlsberg claims to be “super excited” by the growth potential of the Britvic portfolio, with the brewer looking to explore “significant opportunities” presented by the brands.

Last year, Carlsberg formally acquired Britvic, owner of soft drinks brands including Tango, Robinsons and Jimmy’s Iced Coffee. Carlsberg Britvic was formed in the UK, bringing the beer and beverage businesses together under one unit.

Speaking during Carlsberg’s fiscal year 2025 results call today (4 February), CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen told investors the Britvic business had the potential to drive growth, not just for the UK, but across the whole company.

“I’m just going to repeat our excitement about this business and the significant opportunities it’s created, not only for the combined UK business, but for the Carlsberg group as a whole,” he said.

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The group reported the “synergies” achieved through integrating Britvic into the business were progressing more quickly than expected. Those synergies helped Carlsberg beat market forecasts for the financial period.

While driving synergies across the Britvic and Carlsberg businesses has clearly been a priority over the last year, Aarup-Andersen explained the company is still keen to sustain Britvic’s growth trajectory, including through making “commercial investments to support long-term growth”. This includes marketing investments behind the Britvic brand.

This strategy paid off in 2025, with Britvic growing its volumes by 4% in the UK against a tough consumer environment.

“Many people would have expected that 2025 would have been a transition year, but I have to say, when you look at the numbers, it’s very strong numbers already in 2025,” Aarup-Andersen said.

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The CEO highlighted the Pepsi brands – which Britvic distributes in the UK – alongside Plenish and Jimmy’s Iced Coffee as strong performers during the period. He explained the Britvic acquisition has given the business “a different vantage point” on negotiations with retailers.

“It’s great to see the partnership discussions we’re having with the major retailers, also around innovation pipelines, not just for the next six months, but for the next couple of years. Being able to plan more strategically around also major launches of new products and thinking shared business plans to a larger degree,” he said.

Carlsberg Britvic has an ambition to become a “multi-beverage powerhouse”, CMO Munnawar Chishty told Marketing Week last year, leaning into the “blurring” lines between different drinks categories.

Impact of San Miguel loss

On the face of it, Carlsberg’s revenue significantly increased in 2025 – up 18.8%, with volumes rising 17.7%. However, on an organic basis revenues fell 0.6% and volumes fell 2%.

These declines on an organic basis were largely driven by the loss of Carlsberg’s licence to distribute San Miguel in the UK. Excluding the impact, revenue grew 1.1% in the period.

Carlsberg is working hard to fill the gap left behind by San Miguel, Aarup-Andersen insisted. The business claims to have been “very successful in driving other premium world lager offerings” to customers and consumers to replace San Miguel.

“Of course, we didn’t get there in the first year, but we’ve been very pleased to see the strength of our premium brands and the results that we can achieve with the right level of support correctly, volumes more than doubled,” he said. “That’s a remarkable achievement in the mature and highly competitive UK market.”

The performance of brands like Poretti and 1664 Blanc in the UK were highlighted by the CEO. Aarup-Andersen also touched on the forthcoming World Cup in North America, kicking off in June, which the company’s various brands will be activating behind.

“But the timing of matches is not ideal for European nation consumers,” he warned. In fact, Aarup-Andersen believes the weather will be more of a factor in the performance of Carlsberg’s brands than the competition.