Evolution Fresh – the smoothie and juice brand from Starbucks – has launched three new juice blends that combine cold-pressed juice with cold-brewed tea.
The novel Evolution Fresh Coolers will be available through grocery retailers in the US from this week. The three flavours include tropical hibiscus, with pineapple juice and hibiscus tea; raspberry citrus, which combines tart raspberries with watermelon and green tea; plus blueberry mint, also with watermelon and green tea.
Designed to tap into growing demand, the Coolers are free from added sweeteners and bottled in 11oz bottles, all with fewer than 100kcal each.
Evolution Fresh general manager Ryan Ziegelmann said: “We’re excited to launch our new Evolution Fresh Coolers that combine our high quality cold-pressed juice with the smooth taste of cold-brewed tea, perfect for refreshment and hydration. As a leader in cold-pressed, high-pressure processed juice, Evolution Fresh strives to bring innovation to our customers that feature delicious, on-trend ingredients to enjoy throughout the day.”
In addition to the three new drinks, Evolution Fresh will offer watermelon juice in some US grocery stores and, in June, will launch a range of organic superfood juices made using coconut milk in participating retailers nationwide.
The changes will allow the Starbucks brand to drive growth in the company’s beverage portfolio, after it launched a new range of Teavana iced teas in collaboration with Anheuser-Busch.
The ready-to-drink (RTD) tea category is worth $4.5 billion a year globally and growing. In 2015, consumption amounted to 35 billion litres – forecast to rise to 44 billion litres by 2020 – with around 15% of that opportunity accounted for by the North American market.
Last week, Nestlé ended its iced tea joint venture with Coca-Cola, sensing an opportunity to grow its new-look Nestea brand on its own.
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