Irn-Bru chief hints at alcoholic version of famous drink

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.

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

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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