Starbucks Corp. has joined forces with Anheuser-Busch to produce the first Teavana ready-to-drink tea in the U.S., Starbucks said Thursday.
Expected to launch in the first half of 2017, the non-alcoholic product will leverage Starbucks’ expertise with tea and retailing with Anheuser-Busch’s strength in production, bottling and distribution to retailers nationwide through its network of wholesalers.
Starbucks said the ready-to-drink products will include “epicurean flavors” from Teavana favorites, yet to be revealed.
Teavana’s brewed and iced teas served at Starbucks have been a high-growth category. Over the past year in the U.S., Starbucks has sold more than $1 billion in tea drinks, which was up about 11 percent year-over-year.
“Tea has been an important part of Starbucks’ heritage since we opened our doors as Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spices in the Pike Place Market in 1971,” said Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ chair and CEO, in a statement. “When we acquired Teavana in 2012, we saw a unique opportunity to do for tea what Starbucks has done for coffee, and expand the Teavana brand across many customer experiences and products.”
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Americans drink an estimated 800 million cups of tea per week, but 80 percent of that is iced tea, according to the Tea Association of the U.S., cited by Starbucks.
Tea overall has a global category size of $125 billion, and premium ready-to-drink tea is a more than $1 billion category, Starbucks said.
For Anheuser-Busch, best known as the producer of Budweiser and Bud Light, the move marks a step away from beer.
“This arrangement will bring together the strengths of two great companies, each with a long history of successful brand building,” said Carlos Brito, Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO. “Starbucks’ expertise and leadership in premium tea, combined with our world-class production capabilities and strong U.S. distribution footprint, will position this new product well in what is an exciting and growing category. We are delighted to be in a position to offer this great product to our wholesalers and believe, with their support, we are ideally structured to maximize the sales opportunity for Teavana RTD tea across the U.S.”
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