With new branding and products, Lipton is expanding its consumer base after its acquisition in 2022 by CVC Capital Partners while also navigating supply chain complications in the broader tea market.
“We have been your favorite tea for 135 years, but we will be your favorite tea for the next 135 years because we are growing with you, and we understand your needs today, which might not be the needs that you had 20 years ago,” said Racquel Harris Mason, president of Lipton Teas and Infusions North America.
Lipton blends iconic with new
In July 2022, CPG conglomerate Unilever sold most of its tea business, including Lipton, PG tips, Pukka, T2 and Tazo to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners for nearly $5 billion amid a portfolio shakeup.
Mason – who joined the company a year later after holding executive roles at Coca-Cola for roughly 14 years – is applying lessons learned from previous rebrands to bring new consumers into the Lipton brand without alienating existing fans.
For instance, Coca-Cola “expanded the logos, taking up more space on the pack. So, although the formula has not changed, the manifestation of how that brand is relevant to consumers absolutely has changed. And when I ran the brand Coca-Cola, my job was to make sure that that manifestation stayed fresh,” Mason elaborated.
Lipton’s updated branding features the company name in full capitalization with a tea leaf adorning the logo. The packaging’s background now features a swirl emitting from the tea leaf, opposed to a radiating sun behind the logo.
“We have our core Lipton yellow-label tea, which is delicious. We are not changing that formula today, but what we are changing is the iconography to welcome you and inspire you to participate in the brand because maybe, the old Lipton looked a little bit too familiar,” Mason said.
Additionally, Lipton will use the tagline “We Choose Tea” and tap into wellness occasions and demand for healthy beverages to grow the brand, the company shared in a release.
Expanding black tea and fruit and herbal options
As part of the rebrand, Lipton expanded its black tea with English Breakfast and Earl Grey and is preparing to double its fruit and herbal tea lineup this summer, Mason said. Lipton is focusing on innovating across occasions and hot and cold formats to meet consumer demands for tea, she added.
Last year, the FDA updated its definition of “healthy” to include tea, creating another opportunity to drive Lipton’s growth, Mason noted.
“We are going to be doing more with our powdered business and our on-the-go as well as expanding with our concentrate business, which is when you do not want to boil a big pot of water and make the tea. Concentrates are an easy way to just add water, and you have your fresh cup of iced tea or hot tea if you choose to warm it up,” Mason noted.
‘Any smart executive right now is doing scenario planning’
Lipton – like many CPG companies – is navigating ever-evolving supply chain issues spurred on by trade challenges and tariffs and proactively addressing these challenges with scenario planning exercise, Mason said. Tea’s history is one of global commerce with supply chains that wrap around the globe.
Last year, Lipton moved away from owning tea farms to focus on manufacturing tea, Mason explained. The tea company is closely working with its supply chain partners to ensure their supply is robust and prices are affordable, she added.
“We do import teas from Argentina, Kenya and from lots of other parts of the world. But any smart executive is doing scenario planning right now because if there is one thing we could say that has been true for the last 90 days is volatility,” Mason elaborated.
“We are building a resilient and flexible supply chain. Regardless of what the answer is, we will be ready to be able to serve our consumers quality products with excellence,” she added.
