Coca-Cola European Partners Launches Fuze RTD Tea in UK
Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) has announced the UK launch of the ready-to-drink (RTD) iced tea brand Fuze Tea.
Already established in 40 markets, Fuze Tea will launch simultaneously across Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe from January 2018.
According to CCEP, Fuze Tea is a fusion of fruit flavours, botanicals, tea extracts and other ingredients which deliver a fresh tea taste, offering a premium alternative within the iced tea category. It initially launched in 2012 in 14 international markets and saw accelerated growth to billion-dollar status in less than three years.
Blends include Black Tea Peach with a touch of hibiscus and Green Tea Mango with a hint of chamomile. These blends were developed at the Coca-Cola R&D centre in Brussels. According to the company, the tea extracts in Fuze Tea come from 100% sustainably sourced tea leaves, contributing to Coca-Cola’s global aim to sustainably source 100% of its key agricultural ingredients and raw materials by 2020.
Fuze Tea is also marketed as being low in calories – between 14 and 19 calories per 100ml depending on the flavour – and sweetened with stevia in response to consumers’ increasing demands for different products.
The two variants will be available in 400ml PET on-the-go bottles from the middle of January and 4 x 400ml PET bottle multipacks in March as part of a phased launch. At approximately 4g of sugar per 100ml Fuze will be soft drinks tax exempt.
The launch is supported by a £4million marketing campaign across TV, print, and digital and social channels and in-store sampling targeting millennials which are the largest iced tea consumer group. The campaign titled ‘Serve yourself a little me time’ encourages consumers to take a moment to unwind in their busy lives, and refresh with a Fuze Tea.
“Consumer tastes are changing, and we know people are looking for a greater number of options and choice in their drinks,” says Simon Harrison, operational marketing director GB 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.”
Harrison notes that the RTD ice tea is an important, fast-growing category which is currently worth £47m in GB and has grown by 12% in the past year alone. “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.”
Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) is the world’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottler. CCEP is the sole licensed bottler for products of The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) in Andorra, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Luxemburg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
