Ribena is owned by Suntory (Japan), which acquired the brand on 31 December 2013 from GSK, as part of a £1.35 billion deal that also included Lucozade.[1][2][3]
Ribena is a blackcurrant cordial developed in 1938 at the University of Bristol, and during the Second World War the British government distributed it free to children because citrus imports had stopped and blackcurrants are exceptionally high in vitamin C. Suntory acquired it in 2013.
Suntory is a privately held company headquartered in Osaka, Japan, founded in 1899. Brandtree records 8 brands under its control.
Suntory was founded in Osaka in 1899 and pioneered Japanese whisky at the Yamazaki distillery from 1923. The holding company is unlisted and controlled by the Kotobuki foundation associated with the founding Torii family; its 2014 purchase of Beam made it one of the largest spirits groups in the world.
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 552 brands that began in the United Kingdom.
291 of them (53%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Ribena among them.
GlaxoSmithKline sold the Lucozade and Ribena business, including the Coleford manufacturing site in Gloucestershire and related inventory, to Suntory Beverage & Food for 1,352 million pounds in cash. GSK booked a profit on disposal of 1,057 million pounds and said the brands would grow better under an owner with drinks distribution in emerging markets. Suntory put them into a new company, Lucozade Ribena Suntory, which began trading in 2014.
The parent company of Ribena is Suntory, a privately held company headquartered in Japan.
Is Ribena British or Japanese?
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Ribena originated in the United Kingdom in 1938, but it is owned today by Suntory, which is headquartered in Japan. So Ribena is a British-origin brand under Japanese ownership.
When did Suntory buy Ribena?
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Suntory completed its acquisition of Ribena on 31 December 2013, after announcing the deal on 9 September 2013. The deal, which also included Lucozade, was valued at £1.35 billion.
Is Ribena still owned by Suntory?
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Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Ribena is still owned by Suntory. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (3) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
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