THE CUSTOMER
Britvic plc is a global soft drinks provider, a major supplier of branded natural and carbonated soft drinks in the UK, and an industry leader in Ireland and France. With a strong portfolio of iconic brands including Robinsons, Tango and J20, and a major producer of PepsiCo’s soft drinks brands, their products have become established household names.
THE CHALLENGE
Sustainability has historically been an issue for the soft drinks industry as it has been heavily reliant on single use plastic bottles, which if not recycled damage the environment and impact CSR (corporate Social responsibility). As a leading soft drinks vendor, Britvic took a strategic decision to address the issue by exploring technology to reduce this dependency as part of its Healthier People, Healthier Planet strategy. This has involved developing a novel IoT-controlled Flavour Tap to assure sustainability across the product lifecycle by reducing energy usage and waste, which translates into reduced CO2 emissions.
THE REQUIREMENT
To realise these aspirations the vendor needed third party support to rapidly develop and deploy a smart tap product prototype for live trial, proof of concept and validation purposes. The vendor also needed an effective means of managing the associated data metrics for dispensing and processing purposes. Green Custard was selected to take a lead role because of its proven track record of working closely alongside companies with specific needs to create bespoke, secure, and sustainable IoT solutions using Amazon Web Services (AWS).
“With Aqua Libra, we’re offering a new proposition for customers to reduce their carbon footprint, while providing healthy hydration options for staff and shoppers. As Britvic, our decades of experience with liquids and equipment combined with a priority to develop industry-leading experiences has led to the creation of the Aqua Libra Flavour Tap. While developing the ground-breaking product, Green Custard has supported our ability to innovate in-house.”
Scott MacKenzie
Director of Beyond the Bottle platforms at Britvic
PROJECT DETAILS
Key project drivers:
- Adopt greener working practices as part of a Healthier People, Health Planet Strategy
- Remove the need for single use plastic across the product life cycle
- Lower overall energy usage, waste and refrigeration costs
- Optimise supply chain and stock replenishment processes
- Drive down co2 emissions through sustainable operations
- Leverage IoT for greater market and product insight, detailed reporting and predictive maintenance
GC took the prototype from concept to working solution within a six-week timeframe. Subsequent to this successful outcome GC were then tasked with supporting the ongoing product development and worked closely with Britvic and Aqua Libra to develop production models for deployment with customers.
GC has developed all the required software needed to operate the Flavour Tap which has also been configured to capture targeted information, such as best sellers, locational data, time of day information and usage data for market analysis, performance, and replenishment purposes. The Flavour Taps receive drink recipes from AWS and these in turn can be updated with popular drinks choices based on consumer demand. Drinks selections can also be tailored on a machine-by-machine or individual basis, if required, offering greater flexibility and choice.
Additionally, the Flavour Tap has been designed to fill a wide range and size of vessels. To operate, consumers simply place their reusable vessel under the nozzle and select their preferred flavour/drinks’ type – fizzy, still etc via a touchscreen-control interface, removing the need for a one-time-use plastic bottle the drink would have usually been sold in.
THE OUTCOME
As well as eliminating plastic from the product lifecycle and enabling greener working practices, the data captured provides Britvic with valuable insight into market trends such as popular drinks choices. The vendor can use this information to expand its customer base and encourage brand loyalty through targeted marketing campaigns with promotional schemes and reward cards. The captured information also supports slicker operations through optimised supply chain, maintenance, and stock replenishment processes, reducing CO2 emissions further.
Britvic’s next-generation drinks dispensers are currently being piloted with several leading global businesses
Find out more about our Sustainable Product Ideation & Development service
