‘Fancy a cuppa Lipton?’ Unilever refreshed by tea time
Graham Jones from Panmure Gordon made his comments in a note this morning, reacting to Unilever’s reported results today – quarterly turnover up 0.4% to €25.5bn in the six months to June 30 and net profit up 14% to €2.43bn – as management discussing improved performance and outlook as follows.
“The underlying performance of our foods and refreshment categories is starting to improve, with strong growth from the relaunched Lipton Yellow and the continuing success of Knorr…” Unilever said.
“And there is more to come: our innovation pipeline is robust which will be vital as we navigate the slowdown in many parts of the world.”
Discussing the tea opportunity at the Zenith International-organized Innobev Global Beverages Congress in May, Unilever's executive VP of global beverages, Winfried Hopf told delegates:“For me and Unilever, it’s the hottest beverage in the beverage landscape”.
Tea held increasing appeal for young consumers, he added, particularly in cold RTD form, and due to social media support from celebrities such as Rhianna, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga on platforms such as Twitter.
“It’s a category with power, because it serves half of our population. And it’s a category with scale, with one trillion cups of tea served every year,” Hopf said.
