Green is this year’s hottest colour in the iced tea market

Hungary’s iced tea market expanded in terms of both value and volume last year. Although sales dropped in the first months of 2017 in comparison with December 2016, they were still higher than in the first months of 2016. In 2017 37 percent of iced tea volume sales were realised in hyper- and supermarkets. Nikoletta Buzder-Lantos, marketing manager of Fővárosi Ásványvíz- és Üdítőipari Zrt. told our magazine that in the summer months volume sales jump 22 percentage points.

_{Nikoletta Buzder-Lantos
marketing manager
Fővárosi Ásványvíz}

_{Gábor Ivády
commercial excellence leader
Coca-Cola HBC}

Gábor Ivády, commercial excellence leader of Coca-Cola HBC Magyarország Kft. added that lower-priced products managed to increase volume sales, while sales of premium brands decreased a little. Tamás Jenei, director of commerce at HELL ENERGY Magyarország Kft. underlined that sales of XIXO iced tea products augmented, thanks to the new packaging format, the good price-value ratio and the ideal flavour portfolio. Balázs Cul, managing director of Asix Distribution Kft. informed that sales of 0.5-litre iced teas are developing especially well. San Benedetto products are the perfect choice for those who are looking for quality and excellent taste.

Mr Ivády talked to us about the popularity of 1.5-litre iced tea in PET bottle. In 2016 Coca-Cola launched a 2×1.5-litre iced tea format under the NESTEA brand, in lemon and peach flavours. Mr Jenei spoke about the successful introduction of the 250ml aluminium can format last year, which is 100-percent recyclable. Ms Buzder-Lantos revealed that the iced green tea segment still realises lower volume sales than classic black iced tea flavours (lemon, peach), but it is more and more popular among consumers: in 2016 already 19 percent of iced tea sales were realised by iced green teas. In the summer of 2017 Lipton Iced Tea will appear in shops in 1-litre version, in three popular flavours.

_{Tamás Jenei
director of commerce
HELL ENERGY}

_{Balázs Cul
managing director
Asix Distribution}

HELL ENERGY Magyarország Kft. put two new, summer limited edition – rose and ylang-ylang – XIXO iced teas on the market. They have been available in 1.5-litre PET bottles since May. It is very important for the company to inform consumers about the fact that XIXO is a top-quality Hungarian brand. In April Coca-Cola HBC Magyarország Kft. came out with NESTEA ZERO sugar-free, no-calorie iced teas, in 0.5-litre and 1.5-litre sizes. This summer the company surprises iced tea lovers with a new seasonal flavour, cranberry-mint NESTEA green tea. In its communication Nestea targets consumers who like to discover new things.

Fővárosi Ásványvíz- és Üdítőipari Zrt. is of the opinion that the Hungarian iced tea market is very much affected by innovations and new flavour launches. In 2017 the company expanded the Lipton Ice Tea portfolio with Lipton Green Wild Strawberry Cranberry. This year they are concentrating on Lipton Green iced teas in their communication. They recommend the company’s iced green teas to health-conscious consumers, with the slogan ‘Return to your natural rhythm’. //