No, Nestea is not saying goodbye to Spain. You’ll probably still be able to find it, although it won’t be as easy as it is now. Although articles have been published in recent hours about the end of the popular tea drink in Spain, the scenario ahead is more complicated. If you are one of the thousands of customers who want to order Nestea while sitting on the terrace, you can continue to do so. Of course, maybe the waiter will tell you they don’t have it anymore and offer you an alternative drink called Fuze Tea.

We explain the confusion to you.

Farewell to Nestea? This has been stated by many media outlets this week, but the truth is no: Nestea is not saying goodbye to Spain. It will continue to sell. Although significant developments behind the scenes of the business have made it possible for the brand to become a popular brand, especially in shops and bars.

The reason is very simple: Until now, Nestea was distributed within the framework of an agreement made between two giants, Coca Cola and Nestlé. However, the fact that both multinational companies did not continue their agreement on the brand does not mean that the product is saying goodbye.

So why all the turmoil? Because on the verge of the expiration of this agreement between two multinational companies, Coca Cola Iberia decided to introduce what will be its biggest bet among tea drinks in Spain: Fuze Tea, the “global brand” of iced tea, available in many countries of the world. This brand, which consists of 90 countries, has made a lot of room for itself in the soft drink markets of Mexico, Türkiye and Germany.

Maybe the brand looks familiar to you. Or not. At the end of September, Coca Cola announced the launch of Fuze Tea Sabor Original in Spain. And then its clear commitment to the brand is already moving forward: before the end of 2024, it aims to have its boxes available nationwide, with more than 2,250,000 points of sale.

“We believe that Fuze Tea will achieve the same success in Spain as it has in the other 90 countries in which it operates,” says Carlos Martín, general manager of Coca Cola Iberia. Europa Press assures that during the presentation of Fuze Tea Sabor Original, Martín Carrión overlooked something else: that they will stop selling Nestea in 2025, since their agreement with Nestlé will expire on December 31.

So what does Nestlé say? There is no single company behind Nestea’s success in the Spanish market. Besides Coca Cola, there is also Swiss Nestlé. And it didn’t take long for him to warn that the end of his contract with Coca Cola did not mean the popular tea drink was saying goodbye to Spain.

In a statement to clarify “misinformation”, Nestlé assured that Nestea will continue its operations in Spain next year. “Consumers will be able to continue to find Nestea in their usual stores from January 1, 2025 and continue to enjoy their favorite brand, the market leader, in their favorite flavors as before,” the company emphasizes.

An unexpected move? No. To understand both companies’ decisions, you need to know Nestea’s history and go back a few years. In Spain, the drink began being sold more than three decades ago, in 1993, to counter Lipton, as a result of an alliance between Unilever and Pepsico. As I remember daily Five DaysYears later, in 2001, Nestlé and Coca Cola formed a 50/50 partnership to increase the production and distribution of the tea drink in different regions, including the Spanish market.

The alliance lasted for ten and a half years. In 2017, Nestlé and Coca Cola decided to terminate the agreement. joint venture It came into effect on January 1, 2018, but its effects were slow to be noticed by customers. The Swiss company has granted Coca Cola a “production and distribution license” for the tea drink in some countries, including ours. The agreement was approved in 2017 and this scenario is expected to continue for a period that is about to end.

Is everything okay then? Like hell. We know that the agreement between Coca Cola and Nestlé, which has brought Nestea into supermarkets and bars for the last few years, will end soon. Seeing itself as hands-free, Coca Cola has chosen to focus its commitment on its “global tea beverage brand,” which has already managed to expand into more than 90 countries. We also know that Nestlé does not want the brand to decline and will continue to market Nestea.

But doubts remain. Will Nestlé go it alone or seek an alliance? Upon the announcement of their disbandment in 2017 joint venture The Swiss company announced that Coca Cola and Nestlé Waters division will take over Nestea. “The ready-to-drink tea market has evolved and Nestlé believes it is time to develop Nestea independently,” he reasoned. The other big question is… How will your relationship with Buz Fea be in the market? For now, Nestea will see the end of the deal that allowed it to be backed by a distribution giant like Coca-Cola.

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Pictures | Roger Ferrer Ibáñez (Flickr) and Coca Cola