Charlie's

{{Short description|New Zealand beverage company}}

{{for|the Australian filmmakers' co-working space known as Charlie's|Australians in Film#Programs and awards}}

{{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2015}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Charlie's Group Limited

| logo =

| type = Subsidiary

| genre = Beverage Producer

| foundation = {{start date and age|1999}}

| founder = Marc Ellis
Stefan Lepionka
Simon Neal

| predecessor = Spectrum Resources{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/spectrum-resources-ltd/news/article.cfm?o_id=199&objectid=10389732|title=Charlie's earnings squeezed|author=Spectrum Resources Ltd|work=The New Zealand Herald|date=5 July 2006|accessdate=15 July 2009}}

| location_city = Auckland

| location_country = New Zealand

| industry = Food

| products = Fruits, Fruit Juices

| revenue = NZ$30,046 (2008)

| operating_income =

| net_income =

| assets =

| equity =

| num_employees =

| divisions =

| parent = Asahi

| subsid = Charlie's Juice
Phoenix Organics

| homepage = [http://www.charlies.co.nz/ Charlies.co.nz]

}}

Charlie's Group Limited is a New Zealand-based producer of beverage drinks. It is owned by the Japanese beverage company Asahi.

Charlie's was founded in 1999 by Marc Ellis, Stefan Lepionka and Simon Neal. Originally the company produced fresh orange juice; in 2001, Charlie's added other natural fruit juices. They also sell loose fruit, fruit smoothies and sports water flavoured with fruit juices.

In May 2008, Charlie's launched a line of fruit-based soft drinks.{{cite news|title=Another first for Charlie's|author=Jenny Ruth|date=1 January 2009|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/155336|work=Sunday Star Times|accessdate=15 July 2009}} It marketed its products as "Honest", referring to the fact that the products are not from concentrate with no sugar added.{{cite web|url=http://www.charlies.co.nz/?#aboutus/history|title=About Us|work=Charlie's|accessdate=15 July 2009}}

Charlie's listed on the NZX in 2006.{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10112821|title=Ellis in juice wonderland|author=David Fisher|date=27 February 2005|work=The New Zealand Herald|accessdate=15 July 2009}} In 2008, Charlie's opened a new plant in Renmark, South Australia.{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/south-australia/news/article.cfm?l_id=443&objectid=10504309|title=Charlie's squeezes first juice from Australian plant|author=Errol Kiong|date=16 April 2008|work=The New Zealand Herald|accessdate=15 July 2009}}

In 2007, a Charlie's television commercial that featured children playing with fireworks was banned in New Zealand after the Television Commercials Approval Bureau received letters of complaint. The commercial showed cartoon children allowing fireworks to explode between their teeth and shooting rockets at each other. The Acting Fire Service National Commander Paul McGill said :

"It's really disappointing that an advertiser will use this occasion to produce a commercial that glorifies behaviour that was unacceptable 20 years ago and is unacceptable today."

Ron Curteis, Charlie's Marketing Manager indicated that the commercial was not intended to condone such behavior and that they had not realised this sort of behavior was still a big issue. Marc Ellis, director of Charlie's, later called for an overhaul of the advertising rules noting that the same panel who banned the commercial had initially certified that the commercial met all advertising standards. The ban eventually became part of a larger discussion about the difference between content allowed in programming versus advertisement.{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/guy-fawkes-night/news/article.cfm?c_id=1500984&objectid=10473566|title=Charlie's withdraws 'irresponsible' fireworks ad|author=Elizabeth Binning|date=2 November 2007|work=The New Zealand Herald|accessdate=15 July 2009}}{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10489681|title=Charlies soda ad ban turns into fight over double standards|date=30 January 2008|work=The New Zealand Herald|accessdate=15 July 2009}}

In July 2011, Japanese beverage company Asahi acquired Charlie's.[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-03/asahi-offers-107m-for-n-z-juice-company.html Asahi Group to Purchase Charlie’s, P&N Water, Juice Units]

{{cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/5227792/Takeover-bid-for-juice-maker-Charlies|title=Mark Ellis in line for millions from Charlie's sale|date=4 July 2011|work=Stuff.co.nz|author=William Mace|accessdate=4 July 2011}}