– This is very sad – E24

– This is very sad, everything.

This is what Communications Manager Nicolay Bruusgaard says at Ringnes. On Saturday, December 12, it was announced that the brewery will have to recall 13 million glass bottles from the market, after errors were discovered in some of them.

The recalled products are Dahl’s Christmas Soda, Dahl’s Light Christmas Soda, Hamar & Lillehammer Christmas Soda, Hamar & Lillehammer Christmas Soda, Mozell Eplemost and Tou Eplemost.

Bruusgaard says that many of the employees at Ringnes are now having a hectic Christmas – collecting, emptying and destroying millions of soda bottles is a bit tricky.

The fault is likely with the manufacturer of the glass bottles, and Ringnes is now in close dialogue with them to find out what has happened.

The beer giant discovered cases of damage to shiny 0.33-liter glass bottles.

It’s not enough to make up for

Above all, Bruusgaard thinks it’s sad that people who have Ringnes Christmas soda varieties as favorites, and preferably in a glass bottle, now have to celebrate Christmas without them.

– For those who are used to having a glass bottle on the table, this is sad. It can be said that it is just a soda, but those who love Christmas soda don’t think so: Christmas soda gives them a Christmas atmosphere, says Bruusgaard.

Christmas soda variants are also available in plastic bottles.

The brewery is now studying the possibilities of producing more Christmas sodas in these bottles to make up for the loss of the glass bottles.

– But there is little left for Christmas, and you have to bring raw materials, the soft drink will be produced and distributed. There will probably be a modest volume. We can’t compensate close to what we withdraw, says Bruusgaard.

He says the brewery has been too busy finding the fault and recalling the products to assess the financial loss.

– Exactly how much ends in the end, we have to go back. But it is, of course, a significant amount. There will likely be a few rounds with providers and insurance companies, Bruusgaard says.

Competitors cannot produce more

Even if there are 13 million vacancies on the shelves, competitor Hansa Borg will not be able to produce more either.

– The short time until Christmas probably makes it difficult for us to react in any way, says Stina Kildedal-Johannessen, director of communication and sustainability at Hansa Borg.

– This is very boring both for Ringnes and for the trade, he says.

Nor is Oskar Sylte, the producer behind Rudolf and Santa’s Christmas soda, able to move in where the shelves are empty.

– It’s so close to Christmas that if you’re going to produce more now, you won’t get it out before Christmas. It may take a little week to produce more, but often you don’t have that many glass bottles in stock and they take a week or two to deliver, says Oskar Dag Sylte jr., CEO of Oskar Sylte.