Pepsi extends Unilever tea deal

  摘要：2004年，全球兩大巨頭百事公司和聯合利華公司在廣州共同宣布，由百事公司和聯合利華合資建立的國際聯盟———百事立頓國際公司的業務范圍將擴展至中國市場。百事(中國)投資有限公司將負責在中國市場生產和銷售立頓即飲茶。雙方合作始于1991年，立頓茶飲料在美國與加拿大即飲茶市場上一直牢牢占據領先地位。去年11月，百事公司與聯合利華建立了一家國際性合資公司，雙方各占50%的股份，在世界各地指定市場中經銷立頓即飲茶飲料。

  此次簽定的合作協議之所以簽定，是雙方合作的一個延伸。百事可樂公司將和聯合利華公司聯手使利頓即飲茶飲料打入世界市場，滿足廣大消費者對健康飲料的需求。

  協議規定，百事公司將使用其裝瓶技術和銷售網絡銷售聯合利華公司生產的茶飲料，使茶飲料的全球銷售增加一倍。為了滿足消費者對非碳氣飲料的需求，公司會在歐洲和亞洲擴大其貿易范圍。協議雙方將在西歐和亞洲新開辟11個市場，其中包括：德國、意大利、法國、荷蘭、瑞士、澳大利亞、比利時、葡萄牙、韓國、臺灣、南非。百事飲料公司的總經理MichaelWhite稱，鑒于消費者對健康和營養型飲料的需求，兩個公司簽定這個協定是兩個公司向世界邁進的重要一步。可以說，這對百事公司來說是強化其在飲料市場地位的最有效方法之一。

  Pepsi and Unilever are to extend their agreement over distribution and marketing of the Lipton ready-to-drink tea brand to target a growing global demand for the products.

  Through the deal, Pepsi will combine its bottling and distribution networks with Unilever's core tea brand to double the global capacity of their joint venture.

  The company revealed that the agreement would allow it to extend its reach to markets in both in Europe and Asia, targeted growing consumer demand for non-carbonated alternatives for soft drinks.

  With consumers turning away from carbonated beverages towards products that claim health and nutrition benefits, PepsiCo's chief executive officer Michael White said the deal was an important step for growth of it global operations. 

  "This is a wonderful opportunity to strengthen our position in one of the fastest-growing beverage categories," he stated.

  Under the agreement, the partnership will operate in 11 new markets in Western Europe and Asia.  This will extend the venture into Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and Portugal as well as Korea, Taiwan and South Africa.

  A previous agreement between the two companies has been in place since 1991, resulting in the creation of the leading ready-to-drink tea brand in the US, PepsiCo claims.

  This deal was extended in 2003 with the formation of the Pepsi Lipton International joint venture that operates in over 40 countries worldwide.
The move to expand their focus into Western Europe in particular could prove prudent for the group, with the region enjoying strong growth for sales of tea-based beverages.

  Between 2002 and 2006 the market for ready-to-drink tea products grew 7.4 per cent to ?1.5bn, according to consumer analyst Euromonitor.