Lucozade Shortage Over: Supply Recovers in 2025

For many consumers and retailers in the UK and Ireland, 2024 was marked by frustrating moments of searching for favourite Lucozade drinks, only to find shelves bare. Concerns about a widespread "Lucozade shortage" were prevalent throughout the year, impacting the availability of various lines from the popular energy and sport drink ranges. However, as we move into the second quarter of 2025, the supply situation has significantly improved, with manufacturer Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I (SBF GB&I) having largely resolved the production and supply chain challenges that led to those temporary gaps.

Why Is There a Shortage of Lucozade?

The Lucozade shortage gripping the UK stems primarily from a production halt initiated in April 2024 following a tragic workplace fatality at their Coleford factory. Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I (SBF GB&I) temporarily suspended production across numerous lines as investigations unfolded.

Industrial Action Impacts Production

The initial signs of disruption appeared in February 2024 when the Coleford factory experienced industrial action. Members of the Unite union at the site undertook strikes as part of a dispute over pay. While negotiations were ongoing, these planned work stoppages naturally led to temporary pauses or slowdowns in production across various lines. Union representatives had forewarned that the strike action could result in shortages, and this indeed contributed to an early tightening of supply for some Lucozade and Ribena products in the market.

Factory Incident Causes Significant Halt

Compounding the impact of the industrial action, a far more serious and tragic event occurred at the Coleford facility in April 2024. A workplace accident sadly resulted in a fatality. In the immediate aftermath of this deeply unfortunate incident, SBF GB&I responsibly halted production across a significant number of lines to allow for investigations by the relevant authorities, including the Health and Safety Executive. This necessary pause in operations, while crucial, had a substantial and immediate impact on the volume of Lucozade being produced. Reports from the time indicated that production was stopped on at least 31 different Lucozade lines, representing a considerable portion of the total output.

Impact on the Market: Empty Shelves and Frustrated Customers

The combination of reduced output due to industrial action and the more extensive production halt following the factory incident had a tangible impact across the supply chain, from wholesalers to the end consumer.

Widespread Stock Availability Issues

Wholesalers and retailers quickly began to report difficulties in securing adequate stock of various Lucozade products. This led to inconsistent availability and, in many cases, empty spaces on the shelves of supermarkets, convenience stores, and other retail outlets across the UK and Ireland. The iconic Lucozade bottles and cans became harder to find for many consumers.

Specific Lines Particularly Affected

While the disruption impacted the overall Lucozade range, certain formats and flavours experienced more pronounced shortages. The newly launched "Blucozade" range, which had seen strong initial interest, was particularly affected by the production halts, with expectations that these specific new lines would take longer to fully return to stock compared to the established core products.

Manufacturer Communicates Challenges

During this challenging period, SBF GB&I communicated with its wholesale and retail partners, acknowledging the supply constraints and advising them of expected gaps in availability. Promotional activities, which can increase demand, were reportedly paused or significantly scaled back to help manage the limited stock and ensure a more consistent, albeit reduced, baseline supply was maintained where possible. Retailers also noted the severity, with some exploring sourcing alternative energy and sports drinks to fill the void left by the Lucozade shortage.

SBF GB&I's Response and Recovery Efforts

In response to the significant production setbacks, SBF GB&I focused on a strategy to gradually restore full production capacity and stabilise supply to the market.

Phased Production Restart

Following the necessary pause after the factory incident, SBF GB&I implemented a phased approach to restarting production at the Coleford facility. The priority was placed on bringing the most popular and highest-selling core lines, such as Lucozade Energy Original and Orange, and Lucozade Sport Orange and Raspberry, back online first. These core products represent a significant volume of sales and were critical to addressing the most pressing supply concerns for both retailers and consumers.

Gradual Return of SKUs

Throughout the latter half of 2024, the company worked systematically to resume production for the wider portfolio of Lucozade SKUs. SBF GB&I had provided retailers with anticipated timelines for the return of various products, with many lines expected back in production by late summer and early autumn, and the remaining, including the newer Blucozade range, targeted for September 2024.

Lucozade in 2025: Supply Normalised

By the close of 2024, the efforts to restore production had yielded significant results, and the market situation had improved considerably.

Significant Improvement Reported

By December 2024, SBF GB&I confirmed that the supply of Lucozade had "significantly improved." Data monitoring product availability in major supermarkets supported this, showing a marked increase in the number of Lucozade products available compared to the challenging earlier months of the year. While very isolated instances of temporary unavailability for specific, less common SKUs might still have occurred, the widespread and acute shortages that characterised much of the year had largely been overcome.

Focus Shifts to Growth and Innovation

Entering 2025, the communications and activities from SBF GB&I reflect a return to normal business operations focused on market growth and product innovation. Recent announcements in early 2025 have highlighted new flavour launches under the Lucozade Alert brand and collaborations, activities that would typically only occur when core production and supply are stable. The company has also shared positive financial results for 2024, suggesting that the recovery in the latter part of the year helped mitigate the impact of the earlier disruptions.

Furthermore, SBF GB&I continues to invest in its manufacturing infrastructure, including significant capital directed towards sustainability improvements at the Coleford site, signalling confidence in its operational stability and future capacity.

What Can Retailers Learn From the Lucozade Shortage?

The events that unfolded for Lucozade in 2024 offer valuable lessons for retailers across the beverage industry and beyond, highlighting critical areas for focus in ensuring business continuity and supply chain resilience.

The Importance of Supply Chain Visibility

Lucozade’s shortage was largely attributed to disruptions at a key manufacturing site. This revealed how vulnerable even established brands can be when relying on single points of production. Retailers should demand greater transparency from suppliers regarding sourcing, production locations, and risk mitigation strategies. Tools that offer real-time inventory tracking and supplier monitoring can also provide early warning signs of potential bottlenecks.

Diversification Is No Longer Optional

Retailers overly reliant on a few major beverage brands were left with empty shelves and frustrated customers. The incident underscored the importance of diversifying product portfolios—not just across brands but also across regions, formats (e.g., RTD vs. concentrates), and even categories (e.g., hydration vs. energy drinks). A diversified shelf is a more resilient one.

Strengthening Relationships with Suppliers

Retailers that had strong relationships with Lucozade or its distributors were more likely to receive timely updates and limited stock allocations. Regular communication, joint contingency planning, and collaborative forecasting are now essential practices, not just nice-to-haves.

Customer Communication Matters

Some retailers proactively communicated the shortage and suggested alternatives. Others stayed silent. The former tended to maintain customer trust. In the age of social media and instant feedback, transparency and proactive messaging go a long way in managing consumer expectations.

Time to Rethink Just-in-Time

The Lucozade shortage also reignited the debate around lean inventory models. While just-in-time (JIT) practices improve efficiency, they leave little room for error. A more balanced approach—combining JIT with strategic safety stocks for high-demand SKUs—could be a smarter long-term strategy.

Resilience Is a Competitive Advantage

Perhaps the biggest takeaway is that resilience—once seen as a cost center—is now a competitive differentiator. Retailers that adapt quickly, source flexibly, and communicate effectively are better positioned to weather disruptions and even gain market share during times of scarcity.

Conclusion

While the "Lucozade shortage" was a very real and impactful issue for consumers and the trade throughout much of 2024, driven by a combination of industrial action and a tragic factory incident, the situation has since stabilised. Thanks to SBF GB&I's focused efforts on resuming and ramping up production, supply levels have largely returned to normal in 2025. The shelves that were once bare are now restocked, reassuring Lucozade drinkers that their preferred energy and sport drinks are once again readily available. The events of 2024 serve as a pertinent case study on how unforeseen operational challenges can temporarily impact even the most established and widely distributed brands.