Nestlé Waters sells two iced tea brands to focus on legacy brands

Nestlé Waters North America has sold two of its iced tea brands, Tradewinds and Sweet Leaf Tea, to a private equity firm as part of its strategy of shifting towards a better-for-you beverage portfolio and focus on its legacy bottled water brands.

The two iced tea brands were sold to Dunn’s River Brands, a portfolio company of private equity firm Fireman Capital Partners, for an undisclosed sum.

“This transaction is part of our ongoing strategy to focus on strengthening our core business and drive performance through streamlined operations,” Fernando Mercé, president and CEO of Nestlé Waters North America, said.

“We took this difficult but important step to position us to further deliver upon our healthy hydration ambitions.”

The Nestlé Waters business has experienced softened growth recently in the past year especially in developed markets like North America and Europe due to weather conditions, but expects it the category to return growth, Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider said during a Q317 earnings call in late October.

“We are confident that these changes to our portfolio will allow us to sharpen our focus on legacy brands, while identifying new areas of growth and innovation,” a Nestlé spokesperson told Reuters.