About Us

1989 - Nestled in a tiny village in the heart of the Cotswolds, the bottlegreen factory has been carefully crafting a delicious range of soft drinks for 21 years. Our story began back in 1989 when founders, Kit and Shireen Morris, first started bottling the taste of the English countryside and launched bottlegreen’s first product, our now much acclaimed ‘Elderflower Cordial’.

1990 - Within a year of selling our elderflower cordial to local delis and farmers’ markets the Waitrose supermarket chain came knocking on our door, and so began a trading relationship that has lasted to this day. We also started to experiment with different flavours and types of drink and launched our first small 25cl ready to drink Citrus and Elderflower Pressé.

1992 - Two years later, and with the encouragement of our rapidly growing client base, we launched a large 75cl ready to drink Elderflower Pressé, perfect for those ladies looking for a refreshing non-alcoholic alternative to wine or champagne!

1993 - As the business grew, we needed to be able to meet the increasing demand for our drinks so we moved to larger premises at Frogmarsh Mill in South Woodchester (near Stroud in Gloucestershire) where we still are today. Our factory and offices are nestled in a picturesque valley and sit next to the River Frome. Additionally we’re fortunate to be able to draw upon all the water we need for our Pressés and Cordials from an underground spring beneath the mill.

1994 - We launched our first 3% alcoholic Elderflower Spritzer - a combination of dry white wine, fresh elderflowers and Cotswold spring water.

1996 - Our team of loyal employees grew and so did our range of drinks and in 1996 we launched Ginger & Lemongrass as a cordial; to this day it remains our second best selling variant. That year our New Product Development (NPD) department was on a roll and we also launched a range of still Coolers.

1999 - Our iconic, curvy Pressé bottle was launched in both 25cl and 75cl, and the 25cl began finding its way into pubs and bars throughout the country.

2001 - Our stylish, new cordial bottle was launched; the conical bottle is now very much part of the bottlegreen brand. In 2001 the company invested in new factory machinery that greatly speeded up the bottling process. The bottlegreen logo was redesigned and the first roundel logo was developed.

2002 - The distinctive Bottlegreen roundel, which is still used today, was tweaked and rolled out across all packaging and marketing material.

2004 - Once again the cordial and 75cl pressé labels were re-designed.

2005 - A casual comment by a passionate bottlegreen consumer led us to explore the idea of making a range of fat-free sorbets. Our friends at Waitrose were supportive and we were soon receiving phone calls from consumers around the UK asking where they could get hold of our range of sorbets that incorporated our best cordial flavours - Elderflower, Ginger & Lemongrass and English Summer!

2006 - Our sorbets were such a hit we decided to launch sorbet lollies, posh lollies (and fat free) for kids and adults to enjoy!

2007 - saw some major changes for the company and was certainly a busy one! We won the prestigious Good Housekeeping Award for The Best Soft Drink of 2007; we improved and extended the entire factory increasing production capability and efficiency and we re-launched our 25cl and 75cl pressé range.

This is also the year bottlegreen's original founders, Kit and Shireen, handed control of the business over to some of their most passionate employees via a team buyout in conjunction with Piper Private Equity. Whilst Kit and Shireen have now retired they are still as passionate as ever about bottlegreen and make regular trips back to their beloved elderflower farm and factory to lend their expertise to the team.

2008 - Was a very exciting year with a totally new look for the bottlegreen brand. After months of hard work we unveiled the re-branded cordial and sparkling pressé range complete with a new beautiful, elegant logo.

2009 - Saw a wealth of activity including the exciting new launch of our British inspired Classic Variety Cordial range.

Our new product development department have been working overtime to deliver delicious new flavours in our core cordial and sparkling pressé ranges plus a new range of delicious grape drinks just in time for the festive season.

This year also saw the reveal of our limited edition 750ml designer bottles that were created by university graduate student Rachel Pitman. After fighting off stiff competition the public voted in their thousands to select Rachel’s stunning designs as their winner. These special designer bottles were limited edition so you had to be quick to get your hands on one!

Next year is a special year for us so all hands are on deck to prepare for our 21st birthday. 2010 looks set to be another exciting year for Bottlegreen!

2010 -  It’s our 21st Birthday! So many exciting plans in the pipeline so please visit this page again to see what we are up to!