Ribena soft drink

Ribena is a well-known British brand of blackcurrant-based uncarbonated and carbonated fruit drinks. The brand was originally developed in 1938 by a scientist named Vernon Charley at the Bristol University Agricultural and Horticultural Research Station, and it was launched by the company H.W. Carter & Co. During World War II, Ribena syrup was distributed free of charge to British children to provide a reliable source of Vitamin C when citrus fruits were scarce. Over the decades, ownership of Ribena passed through several major corporations, including Beecham Group, SmithKline Beecham, GlaxoSmithKline, and Japanese multinational conglomerate Suntory. Today, Ribena is manufactured and marketed in the United Kingdom by Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I, a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings, headquartered in Osaka, Japan.