Leading tea brand Lipton is empowering Australian café owners to tap into the chilled beverage boom with its new bulk powdered iced tea range.
For local cafés, consumer demand for coffee-alternative drinks is only growing louder.
Just as matcha powder paved the way for ‘Insta-worthy’ lattes, Lipton’s bulk powdered iced tea range – from the famous peach flavour to zesty lemon and grapefruit bases (with more flavours to come) – is now available to hospitality owners in Australia for the first time.
The innovative powder is making it easier than ever for independent coffee shops and coffee chains to offer incredible bespoke iced tea recipes that align with their seasonal menus, all while reducing labour, minimising waste, simplifying operations, and increasing profitability.
According to a 2025 Gen Z industry survey, one third of 18-24-year-olds said matcha was their favourite beverage, with the novelty and new flavours of tea paving significant sway for the demographic.
Lipton wants to help Australian cafés capitalise on the appetite for drink aesthetics and novelty, while making it as easy as possible for businesses to implement refreshing coffee alternatives into their menus.
The brand’s new Powdered Iced Tea 907g bulk pack format offers unparalleled ease of use, with no brewing equipment needed, for unlimited tea applications and great margins. The company says it is quick and consistent, without sacrificing on quality or taste.
“If I went to my local café, I’m probably going to get a smoothie, juice, coffee, or something out of the fridge. This new Lipton tea line provides an alternative, and something that can be hand-crafted with those bespoke offerings,” says Anna Kiernan, Lipton Category Manager.
Already a success in overseas markets such as the United States, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia, the product is designed “for high-speed, high-margin service”. The product has a low base cost, starting from 19 cents per serve, and with a simple three-step recipe – just add water, ice, and serve – teams can create iced teas or signature creations in matter of seconds, quickly and consistently.
The iced tea powder offers variety of serving opportunities – it can be used to make single serve drink, pre-batched in large jugs, dispensers, slushie machines, or even trendy cans and sold as RTD over the counter.
Beyond speed and simplicity, a single tin caters for more than 60 servings, offering real advantages to business owners – eliminating unnecessary waste, ease of inventory control, and reducing freight, refrigeration storage, and back-of-house clutter compared to heavy bottled drinks.
Multiply all these across multiple venues – and the operational and environmental ROI is significant, the company says.
In a country synonymous with long summers, Lipton says all three flavours are essentials on scorching Australian days, with the powders easily adapted into a variety of refreshing iced beverages. “If you had five cafés in a row and they all had the product; you could make five completely different drinks – similar to different coffee blends in various cafés,” says Anna.
The company can also provide cafés with guidance on speciality recipes. Anna says it all comes down to the customer, and what they prefer in terms of their taste and creation profile.
The product is already in use in multisite cafés and roasters in Australia. Lipton is also partnering with Australian drinks vending machine company Flying Turtle Beverages, as the product will be featured at the Australian Open as part of its iced drinks menu.
Regardless of a venue’s business size and complexity, Lipton Iced Tea says it offers “unmatched serving flexibility and taste”.
“There’s never been a better time to rethink your iced tea offer,” says Anna.
For more information, visit dkshgroceryconnect.com.au
This article appears in the February 2026 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
