Wendy’s Jumping On Organic Bandwagon With Addition Of Honest Tea At Restaurants Nationwide

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Though not many of its fast food rivals have taken the plunge into organic waters, Wendy’s is just going with the trend embraced increasingly by consumers, announcing that it’ll be serving Honest Tea nationwide at its restaurants, brewed fresh by workers and sweetened with fair-trade sugars and natural flavors approved in USDA certified organic foods.

According to the Wall Street Journal, this move into organic beverages around the country makes Wendy’s a bit of a standout among its peers, and shows that it’s ready to get on board with the the kind of healthier eating lifestyle that has become popular among consumers in recent years.

The tea will be brewed on site, Seth Goldman, co-founder and chief executive of Bethesda, Md.-based Honest Tea (its parent company is Coca-Cola) told the WSJ. Wendy’s has an exclusive deal to sell one flavor — Honest Tropical Green Tea.

Washing down French fries with an organic drink might seem like a stretch, but traditional soda isn’t the ruler of the roost it once was — consumption of Diet Coke alone has decreased 15% in the past two years, the WSJ points out, with Coke’s sales volumes from soda rising a measly 1% in each of the last two years worldwide.

Coke is now hoping to reap the rewards of owning Honest Tea, with Goldman saying it’s hoped the drink will hit $500 million in sales in five years, after making $134 million in sales in 2014.

The company is aiming to do some of that with the Wendy’s deal, where Honest Tea will be sold at a suggested price of $1.69 for a small drink (compared to $1.39 for a small soda), in the hopes that if you can’t be convinced to part with your money to drink soda while you’re eating fries — dusted in sea salt, even — maybe you’ll fork over a little extra for a trendy organic drink.

Wendy’s to Start Selling Honest Tea [Wall Street Journal]