Jamba Juice to be sold in retail stores

NEW YORK Confectioner and beverage producer Nestle USA are taking the ever-popular Jamba Juice drinks right to grocery stores near you.

Jamba Inc., the operator of the Jamba Juice chain, has entered a licensing deal with Nestle, a new venture for the juice company, which has never been sold beyond its own retail stores, according to published sources.

According to reports, Nestle’s expansion of its ready-to-drink beverage category will be taken into grocery store. Eight Western U.S. states will be carrying the beverages next year.

“We’ve always felt the Jamba Juice brand was highly extendable,” said Paul Clayton, chief executive of Jamba Juice, based in Emeryville, Calif. “It was just a matter of us finding the right partner.”

Two types of Jamba Juice fruit drinks will be offered in supermarkets in California, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Arizona and Colorado in the second quarter of 2008 and later will be expanded to other states and into new channels, such as convenience stores, according to Rob Case, president of Nestle USA’s beverage division.

Nestle USA, a unit of Nestle SA, Vevey, Switzerland, will manufacture and distribute the drinks. Nestle may eventually sell Jamba Juice beverages in other countries, where the company now mostly sells powdered drinks.