A new hard iced tea, bound to delight tea lovers everywhere in the US, is entering the market! Made with real brewed Lipton tea, natural fruit flavours and a triple-filtered, premium malt base, Lipton Hard Iced Tea takes America’s favourite tea and reimagines it as a 5 % ABV non-carbonated product. This great tasting and refreshing hard iced tea is launching in four just-sweet-enough flavours that are inspired by Lipton tea fan favourites: Lemon, Peach, Half & Half and Strawberry.
About the flavours
All four flavours are made with real brewed Lipton tea:
- Lemon: Tart lemon flavour and smooth Lipton iced tea combine in this classic 5 % ABV flavour.
- Peach: Juicy peach flavour makes this fruity, 5 % ABV hard iced tea stand out in the crowd.
- Strawberry: A balanced blend of ripe strawberry flavour, 5 % ABV and smooth Lipton iced tea for sunshine-ready sipping.
- Half & Half: Lipton iced tea meets the just-sweet-enough flavour of lemonade in this refreshing 5 % ABV hard iced tea blend.
Lipton Ice Tea, the number one ready-to-drink tea brand1, is relaunching its range in a modernised design with a packaging makeover for all flavours. The packaging refresh is also accompanied by a reduction in sugar across the core range of Peach, Lemon, and Green Mint & Lime. The reduction will help the brand continue to appeal to the growing number of shoppers on the lookout for lower sugar options without any compromise on taste.
Half of shoppers say they are actively reducing the amount of sugar they consume2, which makes it the perfect time for Lipton’s relaunch. The new and improved drinks will maintain Lipton’s refreshing fruity taste and offer shoppers a lower sugar alternative, without compromising on great flavour.
As the leading brand in ready-to-drink tea3, Lipton Ice Tea’s value grew + 27 % in 20224 with further opportunities to grow as it taps into the 50 % of shoppers who choose food and drink products with reduced or no sugar content5. As a soft drinks segment, ready-to-drink tea represents a trade up opportunity for retailers, holding a price point of £2.43 per litre on average, versus the wider soft drinks’ £1.34 per litre6. This represents a premium option for consumers, and allows retailers to offer a full range of soft drinks which caters to multiple tastes and wallets.
The relaunched range will roll out across all channels from March 2023.
The new Lipton Ice Tea recipes are the latest lower sugar offering from Britvic, with continued innovation and reformulation programmes enabling the company to offer consumers healthier choices as part of ist Healthier People sustainability strategy. In 2022, this meant 96 % of its innovation launches were low or no calorie drinks – with an average of around 14 calories per serve across its Great Britain portfolio.
1NielsenIQ RMS, Total Coverage GB, Ready-To-Drink Ice Tea value sales, Britvic Defined 5Y, 31st Dec 2022
2Mintel – Attitudes towards Sugar and Sweeteners – UK – 2021
3NielsenIQ RMS, Total Coverage GB, Ready-To-Drink Ice Tea value sales, Britvic Defined 5Y, 31st Dec 2022
4NielsenIQ RMS, Total Coverage, RTD Ice Tea value sales, Britvic Defined, MAT we 31.12.2022
5Mintel – Attitudes towards Sugar and Sweeteners – UK – 2021
6NielsenIQ RMS – Total Coverage, Total Soft Drinks Britvic Defined, Average Price Point MAT we 31.12.2022
In the Netherlands, Lipton Ice Tea, a leading global ice tea brand, has made the decision to switch to SIG aseptic carton packs with SIGNATURE FULL BARRIER packaging material, where all the polymers used are linked to certified forest-based renewable materials via a mass-balance system. This decision by Lipton Ice Tea, a Unilever brand, is an important step and contributes to the bigger Unilever sustainability goal of becoming fully net zero by 2039. The switch to SIGNATURE FULL BARRIER is also a significant step forward on Lipton’s commitment to contributing to the circular economy and becoming a fully circular brand.
Lipton has been appreciating the benefits of SIG aseptic carton packs in the Netherlands for many years and its ice tea will now use carton packs with SIGNATURE FULL BARRIER from May 2022. With around 20 million packs sold yearly, this important next step matches the brand’s strong sustainable ambition and meets the demands and expectations of Dutch retailers and consumers.
Lipton, who is committed to using the most sustainable packaging solutions, has chosen SIG’s combifitMagnum 1,500 ml carton pack with SIGNATURE FULL BARRIER. Carton packs with SIGNATURE FULL BARRIER reduce carbon footprint compared to a standard pack*, as a result of the substitution of fossil polymers with mass-balanced plant-based polymers made from tall oil – a by-product of paper manufacturing. All three key raw materials come from certified responsible sources via mass-balance systems: paperboard is from FSC™-certified forests and other controlled sources; forest-based renewable polymers certified according to ISCC PLUS; and an ultra-thin layer of aluminium which protects against light and oxygen is covered by ASI (Aluminium Stewardship Initiative) certification.
*Results based on ISO-compliant life-cycle assessment CB-100732c: https://cms.sig.biz/media/4440/sig_lca_signature_addendum-combiswift-plus.pdf
Thermochromic inks engage consumers attending popular Tomorrowland music festival
Leveraging the expertise of its European Design Studio in Leicester, UK, CROWN Bevcan Europe and Middle East, a business unit of Crown Holdings Inc., has helped long-standing customer Lipton make its mark with consumers with an engaging new package. The iconic tea brand’s partnership with Tomorrowland, a Belgian music festival promoting life, love and unity, inspired the design for Lipton® Iced Tea, which incorporates thermochromic inks that enable the can to be ‘brought to life’ by consumers through direct interaction.
The application marks the first time this technology has been used as an integral and central part of a design. The end result is a beverage can that essentially has two faces – before and after cooling – to create a fresh marketing and decorative tool that enhances both the branding and the “love” theme.
A strapline encouraging consumers to ‘chill the can and see the love’ is prominently featured – offering a nod to the improved enjoyment they can experience with the cold beverage. It is also a literal statement, since the word ‘love’ appears once the can has reached optimal temperature for consumption.
Crown’s reprographics team, recognized globally for its talent with decorative finishes, worked with Lipton’s design agencies to maximize the impact of the inks. Proofing sessions were carried out extensively to color match the blues required to achieve the end result and the final product was universally applauded by all involved.
Thanks to this innovative Tomorrowland design, Lipton® Iced Tea has succeeded in interacting with consumers using engaging visual communications and pioneering decoration techniques.
