Ownership profile
Who owns Honest Tea?
Honest Tea was founded in 1998, acquired in full by the publicly traded Coca-Cola Company in 2011, and had its tea product line discontinued on December 31, 2022; there is no private equity involvement.
Ownership profile
Honest Tea
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO)
Evidence (7)
Honest Tea was founded in 1998 by Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff and ultimately became a wholly owned subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honest_TeaOn May 23, 2022, Coca-Cola announced it would stop carrying Honest Tea beverages as of December 31, 2022; the brand was discontinued but Coca-Cola retained the Honest logo and brand rights
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honest_TeaCoca-Cola (NYSE: KO) is a publicly traded corporation, not a private equity fund; Honest Tea's parent is a public company with no PE involvement in the ownership chain
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000021344/000155278122000242/e22134_ex99-1.htmFlorida state registry shows Honest Tea Inc. (incorporated in Delaware) listing its principal address as One Coca-Cola Plaza, Atlanta, GA, with Coca-Cola executives as officers and directors, confirming full corporate integration
https://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/corporationsearch/SearchResultDetail?inquirytype=EntityName&directionType=ForwardList&searchNameOrder=HONESTTEA+F070000014080&aggregateId=forp-f07000001408-7fc62543-69bb-44f6-95dd-bf30f407676d&searchTerm=HONEST+IRRIGATION+&listNameOrder=HONESTTEA+F070000014080Coca-Cola purchased a 40% stake in Honest Tea for approximately $43 million in 2008 via its Venturing and Emerging Brands (VEB) unit
https://investors.coca-colacompany.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/491/honest-tea-joins-the-coca-cola-familyIn 2011, The Coca-Cola Company exercised its option to acquire the remaining portion of Honest Tea, completing full ownership
https://investors.coca-colacompany.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/491/honest-tea-joins-the-coca-cola-familyThe Honest Kids juice line continued beyond the tea discontinuation, and Coca-Cola stated it would retain the Honest brand for potential future licensing
https://www.bevnet.com/news/2022/honest-tea-to-be-discontinued-as-coke-recalibrates-tea-strategy/What's uncertain
- The Honest Tea tea product line was fully discontinued on December 31, 2022; the brand as a consumer tea product no longer exists in the market, though Coca-Cola retains the brand and IP rights.
- The Honest Kids juice pouch line reportedly continued post-discontinuation; its current production status as of mid-2026 was not independently verified in this investigation.
- Florida state registry entry for Honest Tea Inc. shows a withdrawal event dated November 9, 2017, suggesting the legal entity may have been dissolved or merged into Coca-Cola's corporate structure after full acquisition.
- No private equity involvement was identified at any point in Honest Tea's history; its corporate parent (Coca-Cola) has always been a publicly traded company.