SEATTLE -- Starbucks Coffee Co. has announced a licensing agreement for the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of Starbucks super-premium Tazo Tea ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages—including iced teas, juiced teas and herbal infusions—in the United States and Canada. The agreement leverages each company's world-class capabilities with the aim of igniting further growth in the RTD tea category.
Tazo's RTD line will be integrated into the Pepsi/Lipton Tea Partnership (PLP), expanding the joint venture between PepsiCo and Unilever.
"By joining forces with the Pepsi/Lipton [image-nocss] Tea Partnership, we're tapping into a long history of innovation and expertise in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of refreshment beverages," said Gerry Lopez, president of global consumer products, foodservice and Seattle's Best Coffee. "This move puts us in a prime position to take our successful Tazo bottled tea business to an even higher level."
Starbucks relationship with PepsiCo dates back to 1994, when the two companies formed the North American Coffee Partnership (NACP), a joint venture that helped build the RTD coffee category in the United States through the development and distribution of Starbucks bottled Frappuccino, Doubleshot espresso, Doubleshot Energy + Coffee and other beverages.
"Unilever and Starbucks have both been great partners of PepsiCo for over a decade, so culturally it's a great fit," said Mary Barnard, general manager and vice president of Pepsi/Lipton Tea Partnership. "By engaging the passionate base of Tazo consumers already established by Starbucks, leveraging the strength of the Pepsi bottling system and employing the beverage expertise of the Pepsi/Lipton Tea Partnership, we'll be able to share Tazo RTD products with a larger audience than ever before."
Tazo has created more than 100 tea, fruit and herbal beverages in bottled, filterbag, full leaf and tea latte concentrate varieties. All Tazo tea blending is done on-site at Tazo headquarters in Portland, Ore., to ensure quality and flavor consistency. Acquired by Seattle-based Starbucks in 1999, Tazo is the exclusive tea offered at Starbucks coffeehouses worldwide and Seattle's Best Coffee cafes in the United States.
Kraft Foods, Northfield, Ill., which previously distributed the Tazo RTD product line as part of its 10-year relationship with Starbucks, will continue the significant momentum it has built marketing and distributing Tazo filterbag teas and tea latte concentrates, as well as Starbucks and Seattle's Best Coffee packaged coffees in noncafe channels.
Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo includes Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices and Quaker foods.
Unilever's U.S. portfolio includes brands such as Axe, "all," Ben & Jerry's, Bertolli, Breyers, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, Hellmann's, Klondike, Knorr, Lipton, Promise, Skippy, Slim-Fast, Snuggle, Suave, Sunsilk and Vaseline. Unilever USA is based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
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