STAMFORD, Conn. -- A new partnership will help launch Nestlé Waters North America Inc. into what it hopes is a profitable underused packaging direction: cans.
The bottled-water company has signed a distribution agreement with Polar Beverages Inc. to manufacture, distribute and sell cans under the Nestea and Poland Spring brand names. The alliance, named Polar Strategic Ventures, will become effective July 15 and will cover the Eastern United States.
“This agreement allows us to combine our strong premium brands with one of the premiere can manufacturers and distributors in the United States,” said Tim Brown, president, CEO and chairman of Nestlé Waters North America. “It will advance our goal of having our products available for immediate consumption in all formats, at anytime and anywhere.”
The new strategic alliance will be jointly led by longtime Nestlé Waters veteran Jeff Weston as chief operating officer, reporting to Brown and Ralph Crowley Jr., president and CEO of Polar Beverages.
"Our forte is much more around the PET [packaging] and still-water brands, plus our sparkling-water portfolio, like Perrier," Weston told CSP Daily News, "but we don't really have the facilities or expertise that is required to go into the can business. ... It's a lot different segment. About one-third of all liquid-refreshment beverages are sold in cans, and here we are the third-largest beverage company, and we have very little presence in the canned category."
Nestlé Waters does currently sell its Nestea product in 12-oz. cans, but Weston said the agreement with Polar will increase speed of delivery and opportunity for both Nestea and its year-old test of Poland Spring Brand Sparklers, carbonated-water beverages available in 12-oz. cans in three flavors: cranberry raspberry, lemon lime and just bubbles.
With this deal, "fewer hands will have to touch the product before it gets to retail," Weston said. He also hinted that the agreement makes it easier to expand the "Sparklers" concept to Nestlé Waters' other regional brands. "It would make a lot of sense that our other brands would expand into this category," he said, noting that Polar Beverages distribution reaches as far south as Florida, which Nestlé Waters markets its Zephyr Hills brand.
Also significant in driving the deal is the current growth of sparkling water sales in cans. "Sparkling-water sales are up 17% as a whole," Weston said, "but in cans, it's up 35%."
Polar Beverages and Nestlé Waters have a 20-year history of working together. Polar currently co-packs some Nestlé Waters sparkling and tea products and is distributing several Nestlé Waters products in New England.
“We look forward to strengthening our long partnership with Nestlé Waters and adding Nestea and Poland Spring cans to our strong brand portfolio,” Crowley said.
Stamford, Conn.-based Nestle Waters North America bottled water brands include Nestlé Pure Life, Poland Spring, Perrier and San Pellegrino.
Polar Beverages, Worcester, Mass., is the country’s largest independent soft-drink bottler.
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