Local ice tea makes a global splash
Success comes on the back of solid market research and experience in the beverage and hospitality spaces, write Chris Human and Geoff Bick
When Vovo Telo founder Dave Evans noticed that a local ice tea brand BOS was outselling Coca-Cola at his artisanal bakeries, his interest was piqued. It was the start of a love affair that saw him join BOS Brands 2011 as investor and CEO. At the time the rapidly growing ice tea category was forecast to contribute 20% of total global soft drink market growth over the following five years, growing to 52-billion litres by 2018 (a projection the category looks set to exceed). Recognising the massive potential of ice tea, Evans set to work. His small team included serial entrepreneur Grant Rushmere, rooibos farmer Richard Bowsher (BOS’s original founders) and marketing director Marié van Niekerk. Today BOS is SA’s fastest growing soft drink with almost 14% of the local ice tea market. The brand has also successfully expanded abroad — over the past three years BOS has seen consistent offshore growth of more than 100% a year with more than 30% of its sales now in Europe and further afield....
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