Formerly | Ekaterra (2021–2023) |
---|---|
Company type | Private |
Industry | Tea |
Predecessor | Unilever |
Founded | 2021 |
Headquarters | , Netherlands |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | |
Products | Tea |
Brands |
|
Owner | CVC Capital Partners |
Number of employees | 17,000 (2024) |
Website | liptonteas |
LIPTON Teas and Infusions is a privately held company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, that produces tea and other herbal drinks.
It was formed in 2020 as a distinct division named Ekaterra within Unilever. Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners reached an agreement in November 2021 to purchase the business for €4.5 billion. [2] The sale was completed in 2022, [3] after which Ekaterra was renamed as LIPTON Teas and Infusions. Unilever retained the use of the brands in India, Nepal, and Indonesia, as well as its ready-to-drink Lipton Iced Tea joint venture with PepsiCo. [4]
LIPTON Teas and Infusions became an independent company following the completion of the sale of the majority of Unilever’s tea business to CVC Capital Partners in July 2022. [5]
A month after the sale, the company announced its withdrawal from the Russian market due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The situation in the country "does not allow the company to develop its business steadily", said a spokesperson. [6]
The company launched the Lipton Tea Innovation & Technology Academy together with the Government of Kenya and the University of Kabianga in February 2024 to offer training varying from vocational courses to advanced degrees in tea growing and harvesting. [7] [8]
In May 2024, LIPTON Teas and Infusions announced an agreement to sell its tea estates in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda to Browns Investments with the proceeds reinvested into East Africa’s tea industry. [9] [10]
LIPTON Teas and Infusions owns over 30 tea brands including:
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northern Myanmar. Tea is also made, but rarely, from the leaves of Camellia taliensis. After plain water, tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes. Tea has a stimulating effect in humans, primarily due to its caffeine content.
Unilever PLC is a British multinational fast-moving consumer goods company founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of British soap maker Lever Brothers and Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie. It is headquartered in London, England.
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is an Indian fast-moving consumer goods company, headquartered in Mumbai. It is a subsidiary of the British company Unilever. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products and other consumer staples.
PG Tips is a brand of tea in the United Kingdom manufactured by LIPTON Teas and Infusions.
Brooke Bond is a brand of tea owned by LIPTON Teas and Infusions, except in India, Nepal, and Indonesia where it is owned by Unilever. Brooke Bond was formerly an independent tea-trading and manufacturing company in the United Kingdom, known for its PG Tips brand and its Brooke Bond tea cards.
Tazo Tea Company (TAZO) is a tea and herbal tea blender and distributor founded in Portland, Oregon. It is now a LIPTON Teas and Infusions division and is based in Kent, Washington.
Nestea is a Swiss brand of iced tea and pop beverages owned by Nestlé, manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company and distributed by Nestlé's beverage department in the United States and by Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW), a joint venture between The Coca-Cola Company and Nestlé, in the rest of the world. It competes with Unilever/PepsiCo's Lipton Iced Tea and Fuze Tea. Nestea provides a variety of tea products, including liquid and powdered tea concentrates, refrigeratable teas, and ready-to-drink bottles dispensed by vendor or vending machine. The beverage comes in several flavors, depending on the country.
Twinings is a British marketer of tea and other beverages, including coffee, hot chocolate and malt drinks, based in Andover, Hampshire. The brand is owned by Associated British Foods. It holds the world's oldest continually used company logo, and is London's longest-standing ratepayer, having occupied the same premises on the Strand since 1706. Twinings tea varieties include black tea, green tea and herbal teas, along with fruit-based cold infusions.
CVC Capital Partners plc is a Jersey-based private equity and investment advisory firm with approximately €186 billion of assets under management and approximately €157 billion in secured commitments since inception across American, European, and Asian private equity, secondaries, credit funds and infrastructure. As of 31 December 2021, the funds managed or advised by CVC are invested in more than 100 companies worldwide, employing over 450,000 people in numerous countries. CVC was founded in 1981 and, as of 31 March 2022, has over 850 employees working across its network of 25 offices throughout EMEA, Asia and the Americas.
Unilever Pakistan Limited, formerly Lever Brothers Pakistan Limited, is a Pakistani fast-moving consumer goods company based in Karachi. It is a subsidiary of the British multinational company Unilever.
Lipton is a brand named after its founder, Sir Thomas Lipton who started an eponymous grocery retail business in the United Kingdom in 1871. The brand was used for various consumer goods sold in Lipton stores, including tea from 1890 for which the brand is now best known.
Salada tea is a Canadian brand of tea currently sold in Canada by LIPTON Teas and Infusions and in the United States by Salada Foods, a division of Redco Foods, Inc.
The Lipton Institute of Tea was a dedicated tea research facility established by consumer goods company Unilever, which closed in 2013. The Institute conducts studies on the mental and physical health benefits of tea. As well as research conducted directly by the Institute, it also funded and coordinated research projects at academic and research institutions around the world.
Bushells is an Australian company that produces tea and coffee.
The University of Kabianga is located in Kabianga, Belgut constituency, Kericho county in Kenya. The university is situated in the Kabianga Complex, along with the Kabianga Boys High School and Primary School as well as the Kabianga Tea Farm. The Kabianga Complex has a long history.
The Limuru Tea Plc is a Kenyan company that is listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and engages in the growing of green leaf tea. The Company owns 282 hectares of tea land situated four kilometers to the east of Limuru Town.
T2, officially registered as Tea Too, is a chain of specialty tea shops with stores in Australia, Singapore, and New Zealand. The company was established in Melbourne, Australia in 1996, and was purchased by Unilever in 2013. In 2013, T2 had 40 stores across the globe and made an annual turnover of A$57 million.
Flora Food Group B.V. is a Dutch food company owning multiple brands of margarine, food spreads, and plant-based foods, including Flora and Blue Band. It states that it is the largest plant-based consumer packaged goods company in the world, operating in 95 countries.
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