Nestea returns on the local market after entering the portfolio of Maspex | Progresiv

Maspex Romania launched in mid-June Nestea ice tea after signing an agreement with Nestlé Waters for the development of the Nestea brand in Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.

The brand returns to the local market after leaving Coca-Cola HBC Romania's portfolio at the end of 2017. The producer announced in March 2017 that it ended the collaboration with Nestlé - the owner of the Nestea brand - after 16 years. In Romania, Nestea was launched by Coca-Cola in 2004, and in 2017 it was a market leader in the ice tea category, according to Progresiv information.

The re-launch of this brand in Romania marks the entry of the Polish company Maspex into ice tea, one of the most dynamic segments in the market of soft drinks. "We have added a new product category to our portfolio. Taking into account that Maspex already has a strong position on the market in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary in the JNSD category (fruit juices: nectars, juices, still drinks), we considered the Nestea brand a very good choice for completing the portfolio", said representatives of Maspex Romania.

They also mentioned that Nestea is currently available on the market with two varieties - peach and lemon, both in 1,5l and 0,5l bottles.

The new product is bottled in the juice factory of Maspex in Vălenii de Munte, Prahova County, where Tymbark juices are also produced.

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"We started production and sales in the three markets - Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania - with the aim of creating a favorable environment for the development of this brand. From the information we have, Nestea is still a very popular product in the category it belongs to, so we have decided to stay on top of the consumers' preferences", Maspex Romania officials said.

Basically, the partnership between the Polish juice manufacturer and Nestlé Waters brings a strong new player to the ice tea category currently dominated by PepsiCo (with Lipton) and Coca-Cola HBC Romania (with Fuzetea). The Coca-Cola producer launched Fuzetea immediately after giving up the Nestea brand in early 2018. The launch was supported by massive investment promotion across all media, so after only a year the brand had already become a "challenger" for Lipton.