Just Ice Tea, founded by the creators of Bethesda-based Honest Tea, has announced it has expanded its nationwide presence and will be available in over 12,000 stores, including Target, CVS, Wegmans, and Amazon, offering organic, Fair Trade-certified teas in various flavors.
In 2008, The Coca-Cola Company took a 40% investment stake in Honest Tea before fully acquiring the brand in 2011. Coca-Cola announced in May 2022 that it would be phasing out the Honest Tea line from its portfolio. Bethesda resident Seth Goldman cofounded the drink company in 1998 and was its CEO until 2015– when he stepped back and became executive chairman of Beyond Meat. Goldman re-entered the ice tea business with Just Ice Tea in September 2022.
According to Just Ice Tea, “The national expansion represents another remarkable milestone for Just Ice Tea, which, since its launch in 2022, has become one of the fastest growing, top brands in the natural foods sector, according to SPINS, which tracks point-of-sale data and retail trends. With chef-crafted flavors such as Peach Oolong Tea, Mango White Tea and Half Tea & Half Lemonade, Just Ice Tea has sparked a revival in the popularity of ready-to-drink bottled and canned teas, bringing growth back to a category that had been flat. This spring, the brand also announced the launch of a trio of new flavors that will soon hit store shelves: Orange Mango Herbal Fusion, made with organic rooibos, orange peel and mango juice concentrate; and the delicate, unsweetened Golden Oolong Tea and herbal Enjoy Mint Tea, both available in convenient cans.
Led by Honest Tea founders Seth Goldman (a global pioneer in mission-driven foods who’s also the Chair of Beyond Meat and Tony’s Chocolonely’s Mission Guardians) and Yale Professor Barry Nalebuff, with celebrity chef Spike Mendelsohn, Just Ice Tea represents a revolution in the beverage sector, delivering delicious teas that are good for consumers and communities. It sources its organic and Fair Trade Certified ingredients from all over the world, and uses only ingredients grown without synthetic chemical pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers or artificial flavors. Every tea is formulated to be “Just Sweet Enough” with pure, natural sweeteners, or made with no sweetener at all.
“At a time when there are lots of beverages with gimmicky ingredients and alternative sweeteners, we are proud to offer our simple, flavorful takes on the world’s second-most popular beverage (after water, of course). It’s gratifying to see millions of people embrace the simple ingredients and pure flavors of Just Ice Tea,” said Seth Goldman, CEO and co-founder of Just Ice Tea. “We can’t wait to introduce Just Ice Tea to millions more this spring as we launch in thousands of more outlets. This tea party is just getting started!”