When The Coca-Cola Company announced last month its decision to discontinue Honest Tea by the end of the year, the brand’s founders were dismayed by what they believed was a shortsighted decision. Two weeks later, they’re brewing up a new line of better-for-you teas to take the mantle.
Honest Tea co-founder Seth Goldman announced today that he is developing a new line of “just-sweet-enough” organic bottled teas to launch “in the coming months” through his current company, plant-based snack maker Eat the Change. Reached by phone this afternoon, Goldman said the decision to re-enter the tea category was inspired by the outpouring of support he and other former Honest Tea staff received in the wake of Coke’s announcement.
“We got such a strong response – not just from consumers, but from suppliers and from retailers – I said ‘Wait, this is still really important, what Honest Tea was doing,’” Goldman said. “Just because Coke made a decision, doesn’t mean the marketplace has made that same decision.”
Goldman is unable to purchase the Honest Tea brand back from Coke – the conglomerate is holding on to the IP for the Honest Kids juice line – but he noted that the lack of a leading organic tea brand in the market will leave a void on shelf for a similar product. While he initially expressed doubts about a new brand’s ability to enter today’s crowded beverage market, he believes his experience in the tea category and numerous industry connections will allow Eat the Change to quickly scale a comparable product.
Backing him is Eat the Change’s brand team, which features multiple Honest Tea alumni including sales directors Melanie Knitzer and Rick Tidrow and acting marketing director Kelly Cardamone. Honest co-founder Barry Nalebuff is also a board member and is involved in the development of the tea line.
The new brand will also provide a measure of relief to Honest’s organic tea suppliers, who were not informed of Coke’s decision ahead of time, Goldman said. Eat the Change will work with these past partners to quickly begin production, while Goldman is already connecting with retailers to secure shelf placement once the product is ready to ship.
“This is a product that has been made before and the supply chain is certainly eager to step in,” he said. “I’m not going to say it’s a lifeline, but it’s a way for [suppliers] to keep building what they’ve invested so much into. So this will be able to scale much more quickly.”
Although the formulations are being done from scratch, he said the final products will be similar to Honest’s offerings: lightly sweetened, organic, Fair Trade and providing a variety of tea options for consumers. For R&D, Goldman is drawing from his existing knowledge of tea, but is also working with his Eat the Change co-founder, culinary expert Spike Mendelsohn, who will add “a chef’s touch” to the flavors.
Goldman said he expects the line will launch with six SKUs. Although the RTD beverages will live under the Eat the Change umbrella, the final brand name will be different to distinguish them from the brand’s existing portfolio of mushroom jerky and carrot snacks products. While a bottled drink will require the startup to build out a new manufacturing network, Goldman said he plans for the line to help expand the brand’s overall presence in retail.
“Hopefully, it means we’re increasingly relevant to our retailers,” he said. “It means we’re across multiple occasions, which has always been our goal…. It certainly is consistent in terms of what we’re doing, it fits with climate friendly food, and of course, [being] organic is most important. But there’s also other parts of the Eat the Change guardrails that we’ll also be operating under here.”
He noted Eat the Change has been in conversations with potential investors who may be interested in the brand’s expanded product line. As the teas roll out in the near future, the company will likely look to grow its staff, but for now Goldman said he’s confident in his current team to mount a successful launch.
“We’ve got so many of the Honest Tea pros on the team and they’re fired up for it, I obviously wouldn’t do it if they weren’t,” he said. “I haven’t been able to see too much of what’s going on online, but it’s certainly been very positive on LinkedIn. And, you know, it’s just really the kind of response that’s very encouraging.”