| Nestea | |
| Type: | Iced tea |
| Currentowner: | Nestlé |
| Misc: | Subsidiary owners: Asia Brewery, Inc., Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. (Philippines) |
| Origin: | Switzerland |
Nestea is a Swiss brand of iced tea and pop beverages owned by Nestlé,[1] manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company and distributed by Nestlé's beverage department in the United States and by Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW),[2] a joint venture between The Coca-Cola Company and Nestlé, in the rest of the world. It competes with Unilever/PepsiCo's Lipton Iced Tea and Fuze Tea. Nestea provides a variety of tea products, including liquid and powdered tea concentrates, refrigeratable teas, and ready-to-drink bottles dispensed by vendor or vending machine. The beverage comes in several flavors, depending on the country.
Since the start of 2017, Nestlé and Coca-Cola agreed to end the iced tea Nestea joint venture after 16 years of collaboration. One of the reasons for this, is that Coca-Cola and Nestlé want to pursue different strategies in a rapidly changing market. Nestlé will handle the distribution of Nestea in most countries except in Canada, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Andorra, Bulgaria and Serbia where Coca-Cola will retain a license.[3] [4]
In 2019, Nestea rebranded as a natural product.[5] The new recipe, launched by Nestlé after the end of the joint venture, does not contain artificial colors and flavors, corn syrup or GMO ingredients anymore. In addition, Nestea ready-to-drink iced tea is made with stevia extract and can be found in different flavors such as lemon, raspberry and peach.[6] The new recipe sources its tea leaves from Nilgiri, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Indonesia.[7]