Seth Goldman co-founded Trustworthy Tea in 1998 with a dedication to natural, Truthful Commerce, and sustainable sourcing. The model gained widespread recognition and was acquired by a serious beverage firm in 2011. When the model was discontinued in 2022, shoppers and natural tea suppliers rallied, urging Goldman to not let this pure beverage class disappear. This help impressed Goldman to launch Simply Ice Tea, persevering with his mission to supply sustainably sourced drinks.
Goldman’s first transfer was to reconnect with Zuckerman Honickman, a TricorBraun Firm, which supplies revolutionary packaging options to established and entrepreneurial manufacturers. Through the launch of Trustworthy Tea, Goldman noticed firsthand what set them aside: their energy to establish and leverage the perfect sourcing companions coupled with deep trade experience to anticipate and meet each packaging want.
“Like many startups, we confronted numerous constraints launching Trustworthy Tea — from securing distribution and shelf house whereas working with restricted monetary sources. Zuckerman Honickman helped us overcome many obstacles, constructing the muse for a robust partnership and one thing that felt like household,” Goldman stated.
In June 2022, Goldman and his crew approached Zuckerman Honickman with the formidable objective of getting Simply Ice Tea on retailer cabinets by the top of the 12 months.
“At a time when challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic nonetheless plagued world provide chains, Goldman wanted reassurance that Zuckerman Honickman couldn’t solely establish, procure, and ship a packaging resolution that protected the product but in addition present one which mirrored the model’s id and shopper preferences,” stated Adam Dorfman, account supervisor at Zuckerman Honickman. “This course of needed to be carried out in file time, and our crew has at all times been dedicated to assembly any problem.”
Goldman’s imaginative and prescient for Simply Ice Tea was to supply a high-quality product with a premium feel and look that resonated along with his sustainability-minded shopper base. Zuckerman Honickman was in a position to present glass as the best alternative as a result of it’s infinitely recyclable, is perceived as a extra premium and cleaner packaging possibility and enhances the sensory expertise. Moreover, Simply Ice Tea aimed to attenuate its carbon footprint as a part of its overarching sustainability objectives.
“By leveraging our sturdy relationships, even amid difficult provide chain situations, we rapidly secured manufacturing of a 16-ounce glass bottle and a 38-millimeter cap, finishing the primary run in August and, in flip, assembly Goldman’s accelerated launch timeline,” Dorfman stated “To additional help Simply Ice Tea’s objective of minimizing its carbon footprint, we engaged our U.S.-based suppliers on each the West and East coasts.”
Zuckerman Honickman additionally anticipated a necessity to take care of stock ranges and help future manufacturing because the product expanded its distribution. To handle this, they labored with most of the identical bottling crops with which they’d established profitable relationships through the Trustworthy Tea launch.
Thus far, greater than 40 million bottles of Simply Ice Tea have been bought, making it the top-selling tea within the pure channel, in keeping with Goldman: “It was an important collaborative accomplishment.”
Simply Ice Tea additionally enlisted Zuckerman Honickman to supply an aluminum format for its 12-ounce cans designed for shoppers on the go, which launched in 2023.
