If you drink Nestea you can breathe easy: the famous prepared tea drink will not disappear from the Spanish market. The rumor spread a few months ago, when it became known that , owner of the famous cold tea brand (the result of the combination between Nestlé and Tea) would break ties with , its distributor in Spain since 1993. Now Coca-Cola wants to promote its own brewed and cold tea brand, Fuze Tea. In fact, they already sell it in bars, restaurants and supermarket shelves. This notorious divorce raises a curious legal rigmarole, because the brand that everyone knows, Nestea, is owned by Nestlé; but the master formula of the soft drink that has been sold for 30 years under this name is Coca-Cola. Dark clouds of conflict are approaching.
In 2025, therefore, both companies, until now friends, become direct competitors. To silence rumors, on October 8 and that consumers “will be able to continue opting for their favorite brand, market leader, in their favorite flavors as before.” A week later, Coca-Cola was quick to release a response statement, making clear that its new cold tea drink, Fuze Tea, uses “the same old tea drink formula.” The recipe “is and will remain the exclusive property of The Coca-Cola Company,” the famous multinational beverage company settled.
Do war drums sound? Analysts consider that, although the situation may be difficult for consumers to understand, the coexistence between both brands does not have to inevitably lead to a legal dispute. Although the scenario is delicate. “Even if the breakup was not friendly, we are faced with two brands that can coexist in the market to distinguish the same type of products given their differences,” assesses Carmen González Candela, director of Strategy and Legal Advice at PONS IP.
One of the potential points of friction lies in something extremely abstract: flavor. The problem is that there is no way to record something as volatile as the taste of a drink. The same thing happens with smells. For this reason, companies do not protect the flavors, but the formulas, or what is the same, the chemical path until reaching the final result that reaches the consumer.
Can Nestlé sell Nestea if its formula is owned by ? The answer is yes. “In theory, if Nestlé could completely independently develop a formula identical to that of Nestea, it could be marketed,” explains Eric Maciá Lang, head of the Business Secrets Area at PONS IP. Trade secrets, the legal shield often used to protect successful drink recipes, do not recognize an exclusive right of use. That is, a company (in this case Coca-Cola) cannot claim a monopoly on a flavor. Laura Montoya, partner in charge of the Legal and Litigation department at ABG Intellectual Property, points out in this sense that “if a third party replicates the formula”, that is, achieves a similar or even identical flavor to Nestea by one way or another, “the holder of the secret could not prevent it.”
The advertising front
A second front of battle between Nestlé and Coca-Cola may be that of advertising. “It is foreseeable that there will also be a certain advertising war,” predicts Montoya. In Spain, laws do not prohibit companies from explicitly mentioning competitors in their advertising actions. It is what is known as “comparative advertising” and “it is allowed in Spain,” says Montoya. But there are certain lines that should not be crossed. For example, Nestlé and Coca-Cola must be clear that “comparisons between their products must be objective, not misleading and must not disparage competitors” or “distort reality.” For now, Coca-Cola is simply insisting that Fuze Tea, its cold tea drink, is the “original flavor.”
A third potential field of friction between both companies may occur in terms of unfair competition. For Inmaculada de la Haza, partner at Balder, Nestea and Fuze Tea “are compatible brands”, because “although they cover the same products, tea-based drinks”, in her opinion there are “obvious denominational and phonetic differences”. “It must also be taken into account that Fuze is not a new brand, it was created in 2000 in the United States and acquired by Coca-Cola in 2007 and is present in 90 countries around the world.” However, the lawyer recognizes that “the bottle is very similar in both cases.” Which is not trivial, as it can confuse the consumer, just what the laws aim to avoid at all costs.
Candela Sotés, competition director at Bird & Bird, recognizes that the future rivalry between Nestea and Fuze Tea (or rather between Nestlé and Coca-Cola) may lead to “aggressive measures” to attract customers. And in the heat of the commercial battle these can “generate confusion for the consumer by associating one brand with the other,” adds the expert. The lawyer emphasizes that, in such a scenario, the possible use of “exclusivity or non-competition clauses” will have to be looked at closely, since for the lawyer there is a danger that the company with the greatest market power will close the deal. access to the distribution network of the product to the other. Especially in the hotel, restaurant and cafeteria sector, Sotés highlights.
The key idea, the jurists agree, is that Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola do not trip themselves up: “They will have to prevent said confusion from being deliberately induced by their advertising campaigns or commercial strategies.” The battle over tea is over (in a very cold glass).
