Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) is launching a new premium iced tea brand, Fuze Tea, which contains a mix of fruits, botanicals and tea.

Fuze Tea will launch across Europe later this month, in two low sugar variants; Mango Chamomile and Peach Hibiscus.

At approximately 4gm of sugar per 100ml, the Fuze range will be exempt from the tax on soft drinks.

Fuze Tea uses 100% sustainably sourced tea leaves, is low in calories - between 14 and 19 calories per 100ml - and is sweetened using stevia. The new range will launch in 400ml PET on-the-go bottles. 4 x 400ml PET bottle multipacks will also follow in March.

The launch is supported by a £4million marketing campaign across TV, print, and digital channels. The campaign titled ‘Serve yourself a little me time’ will also feature on instore material and is designed to attract millenial consumers 

Simon Harrison, customer marketing director at CCEP, said: “Consumer tastes are changing, and we know people are looking for a greater number of options and choice in their drinks. The launch of Fuze Tea is a fantastic opportunity for our business to provide new, more sophisticated flavours to more people in more places. We’re moving quickly as a company to deliver great tasting products that consumers will love.

“Ready-to-drink ice tea is an important, fast-growing category which is currently worth £47million in GB and has grown by 12% in the past year alone. We believe the time is right for us to broaden the reach of our expanding portfolio and work with our retail and wider partners to take advantage of this significant opportunity for growth”.

The Fuze Tea range will be available across the convenience store channel from the middle of January.

CCEP is looking to offer consumers more choice by introducing a succession of new category drinks throughout this year.