Innocent Drinks and New Covent Garden owner Daniels Group have been tipped to buy parts of smoothie and own-label juice supplier Sunjuice, a subsidiary of Serious Food Ltd, which went into administration last week.
Innocent uses the Cardiff Sunjuice plant for the bottling and packaging of its drinks, and a source close to the business claimed that acquiring these units would be an attractive prospect.
“Innocent has always debated whether it should own its own manufacturing facility,” he said. “If there were a time to buy, it would be now, as it’s going to be bloody cheap.”
A spokeswoman for Innocent said it did not comment on rumours, but was communicating with Sunjuice’s administrators.
“We are in discussions and have a plan in place with them to continue supplying Innocent. In line with best practice we also have alternative supply routes,” she said.
Chilled food business Daniels Group, owner of Johnsons Juice, was identified as an interested party for the business after a Sunjuice source claimed representatives from the company toured the Sunjuice site last week.
“Daniels Group is considering all of its options,” said a spokesman for the company.
Sunjuice is the largest provider of own-label juice in the UK, with Tesco and M&S among its customers.
News analysis, p14
Innocent uses the Cardiff Sunjuice plant for the bottling and packaging of its drinks, and a source close to the business claimed that acquiring these units would be an attractive prospect.
“Innocent has always debated whether it should own its own manufacturing facility,” he said. “If there were a time to buy, it would be now, as it’s going to be bloody cheap.”
A spokeswoman for Innocent said it did not comment on rumours, but was communicating with Sunjuice’s administrators.
“We are in discussions and have a plan in place with them to continue supplying Innocent. In line with best practice we also have alternative supply routes,” she said.
Chilled food business Daniels Group, owner of Johnsons Juice, was identified as an interested party for the business after a Sunjuice source claimed representatives from the company toured the Sunjuice site last week.
“Daniels Group is considering all of its options,” said a spokesman for the company.
Sunjuice is the largest provider of own-label juice in the UK, with Tesco and M&S among its customers.
News analysis, p14
No comments yet