Following Seattle-based Starbucks Coffee Co.’s acquisition of Atlanta-based Teavana Holdings Inc. at the end of 2012, the tea industry is waiting for the hot tea segment to boom, according to experts.
Company plans expanded territories deal with bottlers
April 16, 2013
Atlanta-based The Coca-Cola Co. reported its results for the first quarter of 2013. Overall, first-quarter reported net revenues declined 1 percent, with comparable net revenues also down 1 percent. This reflects a 2 percent increase in concentrate sales, offset by a 1 percent impact from structural changes and a 2 percent currency impact. Excluding the impact of currency and structural changes, net revenues grew 2 percent despite two fewer selling days in the quarter.
With a lineup of six SKUs that are sweetened with a tablespoon of honey in each bottle, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Honeydrop Beverages has a synergistic tie to the creatures that provide its natural sweetener.
The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, and Nestlé S.A., Vevey, Switzerland, have agreed to focus the geographic scope of their ready-to-drink (RTD) tea joint venture known as Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW) on Europe and Canada.
Radio host Rush Limbaugh introduced the Two If By Tea line of ready-to-drink iced teas. The line includes Regular, Raspberry, Diet Original and Diet Raspberry flavors and has been in the works for one year by Limbaugh, his wife, Kathryn, and a small development team. The Two if By Tea name is a twist on the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” that features the line “one if by land, and two if by sea.”
Consumers are refining their tastes when it comes to tea. Product launches and sales data suggest that organic positioning for teas and ready-to-drink (RTD) teas are helping to sustain and grow certain aspects of the category.