Britvic Ireland to dodge sugar tax hit

The head of Britvic’s Irish operations said the soft drinks manufacturer is unlikely to be negatively affected by the introduction of next year’s sugar tax.

Speaking on the back of a strong set of full-year results for the company and the announcement of further growth through acquisition, Britvic Ireland managing director Kevin Donnelly yesterday said if the levy was introduced today, as a carbon copy of the model imposed in the UK, two-thirds of Britvic Ireland’s products would be tax-exempt. Currently, 60% of Britvic Ireland’s sales are in the low and no sugar segment.

Mr. Donnelly did, however, note concern over the combination of the sugar tax and volatile exchange rates provoking a pricing gap between imported product and domestically-produced goods.