Nestlé and Coke scale back soft drinks joint venture

Nestlé and Coca-Cola are scaling back their soft drinks joint venture, Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW), to focus solely on developing black tea-based products. It had previously worked across the coffee, tea and functional drinks categories.

BPW will market the green tea-based functional drink Enviga, which was launched in the US this year and will be rolled out across Europe next year (MW June 22), but the two companies will now independently develop products for the coffee and non-black tea market.

BPW says the coffee and non-black tea categories are “rapidly growing” and have “significant potential”, and both are now looking at new product development.

The group was created in 2001 following the relaunch of Nestlé and Coca-Cola Refreshments (NCCR), which was launched in 1991. The group, which now operates in more than 40 markets, was revamped to create an “entrepreneurial unit” dedicated to tapping the growth potential in emerging segments of the drinks market.