Nestlé to end iced tea venture with Coca-Cola and go it alone | Progresiv
Nestlé will end its 50-50 tea venture with Coca-Cola – Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW) – and concentrate on growing its Nestea brand on its own. Nestlé said that BPW would be disbanded on 1 January 2018, ending a partnership that begun more than 15 years ago. Swiss-headquartered Nestlé will grant Coca-Cola a license to manufacture and distribute Nestea in seven mostly European countries – namely Spain, Portugal, Canada, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Andorra. 
Nestlé already manages the Nestea brand through its Nestlé Waters division in several countries, including the US. Once the new agreement takes effect, Nestlé Waters will also manage Nestea in all remaining European countries not affected by the licensing agreements.
A spokesperson for Nestlé said that BPW ‘had performed well for more than 15 years’, but now was the time to wind it up in favour of chasing growth independently in the $4.5 billion iced tea market. The move represents Nestlé’s increasing confidence in both Nestea and the RTD category more generally, after it relaunched the brand with new packaging and a new ‘authentic’ range last month.
According to food and drinks consultancy Zenith Global, RTD tea is growing at a rate above the average for the global soft drinks market, making it one of the most exciting and dynamic categories with further potential for growth and innovation. The category is forecast to grow from 35 billion litres in 2015 to 44 billion litres in 2020, and has grown at a rate almost 20% faster than the rest of the soft drinks industry. (www.foodbev.com)
