Why Iced Tea is So Hot...and How to Capture Your Share

Away-from-home iced tea consumption grew by at least 10% annually over the last decade, making tea one of the favorite beverages of guests who dine out.¹ Capitalizing on this trend to enhance your restaurant's image, increase revenue and create a marked point-of-difference is now easier than ever for operators with the help of brands and marketing from The Coca-Cola Company. Depending on what type of tea appeals to your guests, the Coca-Cola Foodservice tea portfolio can satisfy your needs with Gold Peak® Iced Tea, FUZE® tea and Honest Tea®.

Honest Tea capitalizes on one of the hottest trends in the food and beverage industry today — an organic label — which promises to escalate as consumer demand increases. A premium organic product may also create a halo effect for your business, associating a restaurant with quality and freshness.

High Quality
Honest Tea is brewed with real, whole tea leaves. The combination of brewed whole leaves, sweetened with a "tad" of organic cane sugar, makes it full-flavored but not overpoweringly sweet. It's USDA Organic Certified, Fair Trade Certified, GMO-free (no ingredients using biotechnology), gluten-free and Kosher. Honest Tea also offers a line of adult and kids' juice-based thirst quenchers, Honest Ade® and Honest Kids®.

"We've created a premium tea that's an affordable luxury," says the brand's Co-founder and "TeaEO" Seth Goldman. "It's rare you can offer customers one of highest quality products in its category at an accessible price. This helps elevate the overall perceived quality of what a restaurant offers."

Clarity
Honest Tea has been added to the broad portfolio of iced tea brands available from The Coca-Cola Company. Other choices includeGold Peak® — an iced tea with home-brewed taste for guests who love the traditional taste of tea — and a collection of great-tasting FUZE® tea and juice. The Coca-Cola Company acquired Honest Tea in March 2011, and expanded its reach nationally, while Honest Tea continues to operate in Bethesda, Md., under Goldman's leadership.

Popularity
Honest Tea attracts the typical customer profile of premium image products: socially conscious consumers who prefer organic items, read labels and favor a healthy, active lifestyle.

Although its "sweet spot" is consumers ages 24 to 44, Honest Tea appeals to a wide range of fans, spanning generations. Natural food channel consumers are extremely loyal and seek out places that offer healthier choices — making them valuable for any restaurant.

Availability
The brand is ideal for all types of foodservice operations, particularly those that place an emphasis on fresh food.Honest Tea products available to foodservice operators include:

• Honest Tea Honey Green Tea: The top seller (16.9-fl. oz. PET bottle), brewed with organic, fair trade certified green tea leaves with a touch of organic honey
• Half and Half Tea: Half tea/half lemonade (16.9-fl. oz. PET bottle), combining organic, fair trade certified black tea with a kick of tangy lemonade
• Honest Ade thirst quenchers: In Pomegranate Blue, a refreshing mix of organic pomegranate, concord grape, white grape, and blueberry juices, and Orange Mango, made with orange and mango juices and real, exotic mangosteen (16.9-fl. oz. PET bottle)
• Honest Kids: Sweetened with fruit juice (6.75-fl. oz. pouches)

Drinkability
Honest Tea should be consumed cold and straight from the bottle. Ice dilutes the taste.

Marketability
The best way to promote Honest Tea is in an open-air cooler, although a counter display works as well. Packaging effectively communicates the brand's benefits of organic and "just a tad sweet."

Profitability
Honest Tea creates a cost-effective way for foodservice operators to distinguish themselves from the competition by offering a premium organic label. It also provides an additional beverage choice that's just a tad sweet for regular customers, and an opportunity to attract new customers.

Want to learn more? Call your Coca-Cola representative for details.

Source: 
¹ "Tea Fact Sheet," Tea Association of the USA

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