Irn-Bru chief hints at alcoholic version of famous drink

Irn-Bru chief Roger White has hinted that an alcoholic version of the popular fizzy drink could be on the cards. Picture: TSPL

The chief executive of AG Barr, producer of the soft drink Irn-Bru, has revealed that an alcoholic drink range in the future would be considered by the company.

Roger White, whose company has produced the popular Scottish soft drink for over 100 years, made the comments following fellow soft drink giant Coca-Cola announcing a move into the growing Chu-Hi alcoholic drink market in Japan.

White said: “If you’d asked me three years ago I would have said it’s not something we would think about but now that we’re entering into a more regulated environment, it is something to consider.”

The Chu-Hi market deals with alcopop-style drinks, which vary from between around three to eight percent alcohol.

The comments also come after the company’s £21 million takeover of Funkin, a company which produces fruit-flavoured mixers for spirits, with the intention to install the drink via draught in cocktail bars in the near future.

The soft drink manufacturer recently had to change the 100-year-old recipe due to a sugar tax to be introduced by the government on April 6th. The changes prompted online petitions and “panic-buying” of the original recipe drink.

Despite this, however, White has said that the new recipe has been welcomed by customers, with sales reported as being up by 8% since the change.

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