Coca-Cola European Partners has announced the launch of two new flavours of Fuze Tea in Britain, with plans for a European-wide roll-out.
The two new flavours of the iced tea drink are Black Tea Peach with a touch of hibiscus and Green Tea Mango with a hint of camomile, according to the drinks company.
The blends were developed in Coca-Cola's R&D centre in Brussels and will expand from Britain to markets all over Europe throughout January, 2018, the company said.
The company describes Fuze Tea as a fusion of fruit flavours, botanicals, tea extracts and other ingredients which deliver a fresh, contemporary tea taste, offering an alternative within the iced tea category.
The beverage’s tea extracts are 100% sustainably sourced and it is low in calories — between 14 and 19 calories per 100ml, depending on the flavour, according to the company.
At 4 grams of sugar per 100ml, the drink is exempt from the UK’s Soft Drinks Industry Levy, which taxes drinks with at least 5 grams of sugar per 100ml.
It will be available in 400ml PET bottles from mid-January and 4x400ml bottle multipacks in March.
£4 Million Campaign
Coca-Cola said it will unroll a £4 million advertising campaign across TV, print, and digital and social channels as well as in-store sampling, which is designed to tap into the needs of millennial consumers.
The campaign will run under the title ‘serve yourself a little me time’ and will encourage consumers to take a moment to unwind in their busy lives and refresh with a Fuze Tea, the company said.
Fuze Tea was launched in 2012 in 14 international markets and grew to a billion-dollar brand within three years and has become one of the fasted-growing names in the Coca-Cola portfolio, the company said.
More Choice
“Consumer tastes are changing, and we know people are looking for a greater number of options and choice in their drinks,” said Simon Harrison, operational marketing director Great Britain at Coca-Cola European Partners.
“The launch of Fuze Tea is a fantastic opportunity for our business to provide new, more sophisticated flavours to more people in more places. We’re moving quickly as a company to deliver great tasting products that consumers will love.”
“Ready-to-drink ice tea is an important, fast-growing category which is currently worth £47million in Britain and has grown by 12% in the past year alone,” Harrison added. “We believe the time is right for us to broaden the reach of our expanding portfolio and work with our retail and wider partners to take advantage of this significant opportunity for growth”.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Kevin Duggan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
