Frucor

Frucor Beverages Limited
Subsidiary
Industry Beverage
Founded 1962
Founder NZ Apple and Pear Board
Headquarters Auckland,
New Zealand
Area served
 New Zealand
Australia
Netherlands
Spain
United Kingdom
Argentina
Sweden
Key people
 Carl Bergstrom (CEO, New Zealand), Jonathan Moss (CEO, Australia)
Products V Energy Drink, Mizone
Services Distributor and Manufacturer of Non-Alcoholic Beverages
Number of employees
 900 (as of 2011)[1]
Parent Suntory
Website www.frucor.com

Frucor is a Japanese-owned beverage company operating in Australasia, and headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand. The company is well known for its V energy drink launched in 1997, which is sold across the world including Europe, South Africa and Argentina.[2] Frucor's product, V, is considered a rival of Red Bull's.[3]

History

Frucor was founded by New Zealand Apple and Pear Board in 1962 and released their first product, Fresh Up.[4][5] In 1978, New Zealand Olympic track runner John Walker endorsed the Fresh Up product, with the catchphrase "Fresh Up – it's got to be good for you'".[6] Frucor was owned by New Zealand Apple and Pear Board until 1998, when it was purchased for $50 million by Pacific Equity Partners.[7] In 1999 Frucor became the exclusive bottler for Pepsi products in New Zealand.[8] In 2000 Frucor launched V in the UK and Ireland manufactured in the Netherlands.

In 2001, Forbes named Frucor in its Top 20 Companies of 2002.[9] In January 2002, Groupe Danone purchased Frucor[10] for $294 million after bidding since October 2001[11] and being rejected by Frucor in the beginning.[12] That same year, Frucor acquired the Australian fruit juice company Spring Valley from Bonlac Foods (now Fonterra).[13]

In 2007, Frucor partnered with MySpace to host a job promotions campaign with participants Rolling Stone, Billabong. The collaboration with MySpace and the job promoters was the first of its type in Australia.[14] In October 2008, Groupe Danone sold Frucor to Japanese company Suntory for over €600 million.[3]

In January 2011, Frucor launched the V brand in Spain,[2] where by June, was already being sold in 8,000 outlets.[4][4]

In 2013, Frucor sponsored the IGN Australia Black Beta Select Awards.[15]

Brands[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Frucor Win". prwire.com.au. 2011-01-18. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gregor, Kelly (2011-01-18). "Frucor unleashes bestseller V on Spain's energy drink market". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Swann, Allan (2009-02-03). "Frucor deal finally in the can". nbr.co.nz. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Frucor pouring all energies into V". tvnz.co.nz. 2011-06-21. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  5. ↑ "Our company - History". frucor.com. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  6. ↑ Geoff Watson. "John Walker in Fresh Up advertisement". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  7. ↑ De Boni, Dita (2000-05-22). "Frucor offers juicy share float". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  8. ↑ De Boni, Dita (1999-10-19). "Frucor takes can-do franchise approach". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  9. ↑ Christy, John H.; Kirkman, Alexandra (2001-10-29). "20 for 2002". forbes.com. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  10. ↑ McMillan, Alex Frew (2002-01-21). "Danone wins juicy Frucor victory". cnn.com. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  11. ↑ Hiscock, Geoff (2001-10-24). "Danone bids $123M for NZ's Frucor". cnn.com. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  12. ↑ Read, Ellen (2001-11-16). "'Non' likely reply to Danone offer". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  13. ↑ "Frucor buys from Bonlac". nzherald.co.nz. New Zealand Press Association. 2000-12-07. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  14. ↑ Canning, Simon (2007-05-10). "V deal creates a job buzz". theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  15. ↑ Wildgoose, David (2013-12-05). "IGN partners with Frucor for game of the year awards". mcvpacific.com. Retrieved 2013-12-09.
  16. ↑ "Our brands". Frucor. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
  17. ↑ "FRESH UP BIG FIZZ HAS LAUNCHED". frucor.co.nz. 2010-09-23. Retrieved 2013-12-09.
  18. ↑ "Maximus". frucor.com.au. Retrieved 2013-12-09.
  19. ↑ Chan, Karen (2005-10-20). "Frucor wins award with kids drink". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  20. ↑ Vaughan, Gareth (2009-07-07). "Frucor buys Simply Squeezed". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2013-11-07.

External links