Jel Sert Readies Red Cross Drink Mixes, Licenses Out Brands

The Jel Sert Co., best known for freezer pops, drink and pudding mixes featuring such brands as A&W, Diet Snapple, Baskin Robbins and Sonic Drive-In, is readying American Red Cross-branded rehydration and energy products to expand distribution, says Nancy Samani of Jel Sert.

The new mixes are, in part, designed to target disaster preparedness/relief with a goal of increasing Jel Sert’s presence in hardware stores and drug chains, says Samani. As part of that effort, the company has taken booth space this week at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas.

The American Red Cross line features boxes with 30 packets, up from the six- and 10-packet configurations for its other licensed brands, which also include Hershey’s, Crush and Hawaiian Punch.  Seltzer Licensing Group is the agent for the Red Cross brand.

Meanwhile, Jel Sert is readying Sonic Drive-In-licensed pudding, gellatin and freezer bars. Brand Central handles licensing for Sonic Drive-In.

Jel Sert also is working with Lisa Marks Associates to license out its Otter Pops and Flavor Ice freezer pop, Wyler’s Light drink mix and Royal pudding/gelatin brands. Licensee Bentex has launched sales of Flavor Ice t-shirts through Kmart.

Otter Pops, which Jel Sert purchased in 1996 and has strong following on the West Coast, is being positioned in licensing for apparel and accessories, beach products, beverages, confection, and frozen novelties..

At the same time, Wyler’s Light has been applied by licensee Primrose Candy Co. to hard candy that is being sold through dollar stores.

Contact:

Brand Central, Ross Misher, CEO, 310-268-1231, ross@brandcentralgroup.com

The Jet Sert Co., Nancy Samani, Licensing Dir., 630-818-6402, nsamani@jelsert.com

Seltzer Licensing Group, Stuart Seltzer, Pres., 212-244-9548, stu@seltzerlicensinggroup.com

Nestle Pays $7.1 billion for Rights to Starbucks Coffee Brand

Nestle agreed to pay $7.1 billion for the rights to sell Starbucks ground and single-serve coffee in grocery and other retailers and through the food service.

The deal, which was reported late last week (Inside Licensing May 4), gives Nestle the rights to the Starbucks, Starbucks Reserve, Teavana, Starbucks VIA and Torrefazione Italy brands. The pact, which involves Starbucks’ consumer packaged goods (CPG) business, allows the coffeemaker to keep a “significant stake as licensor and supplier of roast and ground and other products going forward,” Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in a statement.

The purchase will expand Nestle’s single-serve coffee business which includes its Nescafe, Nespresso and Dolce Gusto SS brands. It also will give Starbucks an avenue for extending its CPG brand in international markets, Pablo Zuanic of Susquehanna International Group said in a research note.

Starbucks’ CPG business “has limited presence overseas, so the Nestle network will enable growth in single serve pods,” says Zuanic.

Contact:

Nestle, François-Xavier Roger, Chief Financial Officer, +41 21 924 1111

Starbucks, Scott Maw, Chief Financial Officer, 206-447-1575

Susquehanna International Group, Pablo Zuanic, Senior Equity Analyst, 212-785-8170