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Coca-Cola Co. — Coke began a revamp of its RTD tea line by introducing four new flavors in its NESTEA line, including new lemon and diet lemon formulas, and a green tea line with peach and diet peach flavors. NESTEA is now available in 12-packs of .5 L PET bottles, as well as 20 oz. bottles, 12 oz. cans and 12-packs, and 2 L bottles. Additionally, this summer Coke launched Gold Peak, an upscale line that comes in four different flavors. Sweet Leaf — Sweet Leaf Tea Company has launched a new 4-pack carrier, one of the first organic single-serve iced tea multi-packs on the market. The carrier holds four 16 oz. glass bottles and has a grab-and-go handle. Designed with Sweet Leaf ’s folksy feel in mind, the 4-packs are available in four of the eight flavors Sweet Leaf Tea offers: Original, Diet Original, Peach and Mint & Honey Green Tea. It will retail for between $3.99 - $4.49. Tonic Scene — Tonic Scene has launched an unsweetened line, Tea Scene, a set of five different 16 oz. RTD unsweetened organic iced teas bottled in glass. Tea Scene is distributed by Nature’s Best and can be found in Whole Foods in LA and surrounding areas. The Tea Scene flavors are Rooibos, Lemon Myrtle, Yerba Mate, Chamomile and Lavender Mint. Tea Scene unsweetened teas average around $1.99 per bottle. AriZona — AriZona Iced Tea recently took its tea experience and used it to produce the first energy drink based on green tea – AriZona Green Tea Energy, available in diet and regular versions in a 16 oz. can. With no artificial colors, preservatives or flavors, Arizona Green Tea Energy is available nationwide. T42 — Starting in May, T42 became available in 4-pack carriers in its most popular flavors. The teas, which carry a suggested retail price of $4.99, are available in Wegmans and independent markets from New York to Virginia; the
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BEVERAGE SPECTRUM // JULY – AUGUST
2006
company expects to go into a major natural foods store chain in the West this summer, as well. The 4-packs are available in 24bottle cases, as well. ITO EN — ITO EN, Inc., has introduced Tea Mango, Tea Raspberry, Tea Peach and Tea Blueberry to their sweetened line of ready-to-drink Sri Lankan black teas. The new flavors join the previously introduced Tea Apple and Tea Lemon varieties. The new products are authentically brewed from premium whole, loose tea leaves with the added infusion of a touch of fruit. Each variety is available in a 16.9 oz. PET bottle, contains 120 calories per serving, and has 40 percent of the suggested daily requirement of Vitamin C. The suggested retail price is $1.99. New Leaf — This month, New Leaf will release its oneand-only line of blue tea in two new flavors: Blue Tea with Lemon and Blue Tea with Raspberry. The new Blue Tea line continues with New Leaf ’s all-natural tradition, sweetened with evaporated cane juice, containing 70 calories per serving. As for the origin of blue tea, according to New Leaf, the Tea Masters of Ancient China Recognized six tea families each classified by a different color. Oolong Tea is known as blue tea because in its dried leaf form it has a bluish reflection. Oolong tea is partially fermented for greater flavor. Packaged in a glass bottle with leaf embossment at the neck, New Leaf has used a Shrink Sleeve label for its latest offering. New Leaf Blue Tea will be available at specialty, gourmet, health and fine retail stores throughout the East Coast. Kalahari USA — For Kalahari the news is mainly about growing placement versus anything product-related. The product is gaining presence on shelves in Whole Foods stores in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and California, as well as in Shaws’ Wild Harvest sections and Meijer in their natural foods areas. The product is also in all UNFI warehouses on the East Coast as well as Nature’s Best on the West Coast. Millbrook and Kehe are