Capri Sun suing manufacturer for more than £3 million

Capri Sun is suing its UK manufacturer for more than £3 million at the High Court over claims it failed to make enough of the soft drink.

Swiss-based Capri Sun AG and subsidiary Capri Sun UK Limited filed a claim against Princes Group earlier this year over allegations it breached two contracts agreed in 2024, causing it “loss and damage”.

Liverpool-based Princes is yet to file a defence to the claim, but says it “does not accept the claims as presented”.

In court documents, lawyers for Capri Sun say Princes had committed several breaches of the agreements, including through a “unilateral suspension of production and delivery” in January this year.

Noel Casey KC, for Capri Sun, said in court documents that a warehousing and distribution agreement was agreed in January 2024, and a co-manufacturing agreement was agreed two months later.

But he said in January that Princes suspended production and delivery of Capri Sun products until Capri Sun paid £2.583 million.

While production later restarted, Princes said last month it would stop production again, with Capri Sun now seeking damages, an injunction requiring Princes to continue manufacturing and a declaration that the £2.6 million sum was not owed.

The barrister said: “Between on or around February 2 and July 17 2026, Princes has failed to produce and/or deliver substantial quantities of products required under Capri Sun Group’s orders.

“Consequently, the claimants have been unable to fulfil, in whole or in part, orders received from a significant number of retailers including but not limited to Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Iceland, Ocado, Morrisons, Farmfoods, Co-op and Amazon.

“This led to shortages of Capri Sun products at numerous retailers, with certain resellers running out of Capri Sun products completely.

“During this period, the claimants were unable to fulfil orders for several hundred thousand cases.

“The claimants estimate their lost revenue from this period to be approximately £2,676,778.18 and their lost profits to be approximately £847,202.11.”

Mr Casey continued that product lines made by Princes did not meet efficiency targets, meaning it “has been unable to produce the quantities of Capri Sun products required”.

This meant Princes produced around 1.3 million fewer cases than required in 2024 and 2025, with a shortfall of around 800,000 expected this year, the barrister said.

Capri Sun also claims Princes failed to “properly safeguard and account for” products, meaning it had to write off stock worth around £85,000, and had invoiced sums which were not owed to it.

It further alleges that Princes manufactured “defective and/or incorrectly labelled products”, leading it to issue a product recall last month as some batches sold in shops across Ireland and Northern Ireland had been incorrectly labelled as containing no sugar.

A Princes Group spokesperson said: “Princes Group does not accept the claims as presented and intends to defend the proceedings.

“As the matter is now before the court, it would not be appropriate to comment on the individual allegations or potential further legal steps.

“Princes will set out its position through the appropriate legal process.”

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