Nestle and Coca-Cola have agreed to end their Nestea iced tea joint venture after 16 years and pursue separate strategies in the fast-changing bottled drinks market.
The companies formed Beverage Partners Worldwide in 2001 to sell Nestea around the world but the brand has faced fierce competition from Lipton iced tea, which is sold by a venture between Unilever and PepsiCo.
Consumers are also moving away from sweetened bottled drinks toward water due to concerns about health and the environment.
Nestle announced a revamp of the Nestea brand last month, changing its formula and packaging. The new fruit-flavored Nestea drinks are made with sugar and stevia and have no corn syrup, artificial colors and flavors, nor GMO ingredients.
“The ready-to-drink tea market has evolved, and Nestle believes the time is right to develop Nestea independently,” the company said on Friday, announcing the end of the venture that had already been scaled back to just Europe and Canada in 2012.
Nestle said on Friday that Coke would retain a license to make and sell Nestea in Canada, Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria.The Nestle Waters division, which manages the brand in several countries including the United States, will also manage Nestea in European countries not affected by the licensing agreements with Coke, it said.
Source: Reuters via Fortune
Heineken will phase down large-scale brewing operations in Singapore by the end of 2027 as part of a shift to an import-based supply model supported by its regional brewery network. The move will be implemented through Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore (APBS), the company’s wholly owned local unit, and forms part of Heineken’s EverGreen 2030 strategy.
The Coca-Cola Company is set to significantly expand its dairy production footprint in the US, announcing a $650 million investment to scale operations at its Fairlife facility in Coopersville, Michigan. The expansion will add approximately 245,000-square-feet to the existing facility and introduce two new high-speed production lines.
Danone and Arcor launch a joint venture in Argentina, combining their dairy businesses and logistics operations to drive innovation and market growth. The new venture will leverage 11 production plants, expanding the reach of dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt across Argentina.
