Jan 31, 2020 - Economy

Unilever considers selling its tea brands

Dan Primack

Lipton tea at grocery store — Photo: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Unilever (LSE: UL) is considering a sale of its tea business, which generates annual sales of around €3 billion and includes the Lipton and PG Tips brands.

Why it matters: Tea, and black tea in particular, has become the latest victim of changing consumer tastes.

History: Unilever has owned Lipton since 1971 and became a leader in tea-crazed Great Britain 13 years later by purchasing Brooke Bond.
The bottom line: "Unilever executives said the tea business was a similar size, and had comparable geographic reach, to the spreads division it sold for about $8 billion in 2018. The company hopes the tea business will draw interest from other tea makers looking to cut costs in what is a highly fragmented market." — Saabira Chaudhuri, WSJ

Go deeper: Fake meat may have some real problems

Add Axios on Google

Unilever considers selling its tea brands

What to read next