Sara Lee forges exclusive partnership with Philips for Senseo coffee brand

Global consumer goods company Sara Lee has entered into a nine-year exclusive partnership with Philips for the Philips-branded consumer coffee systems Senseo.

Sara Lee and Philips currently co-own the brand, with each company having a 50% stake. Under the terms of the agreement, Sara Lee will pay Philips a total amount of EUR170m.

Sara Lee and Philips have been working together on Senseo since 2001, with Sara Lee producing the coffee pods and Philips designing, manufacturing and distributing the single-serve machines.

After the deal, Sara Lee will have full control of the Senseo trademark and is expected to expand into new coffee segments and markets.

Philips will continue to design, manufacture and distribute all Senseo machines over the next nine years as the brand builds on its leadership position.

Sara Lee executive chairman of the board Jan Bennink said the acquisition and partnership allows the company to strengthen the relationship with Philips to focus on innovation in coffee technology and aggressively push geographical expansion.

Sara Lee Coffee and Tea CEO Michiel Herkemij said owning 100% of Senseo is a major step for 'CoffeeCo' as it prepares for the upcoming spin-off into a separate, publicly-traded company.

Philips Consumer Lifestyle CEO Pieter Nota said with Senseo, Philips and Sara Lee pioneered the market for portioned coffee solutions, revolutionizing the consumption of high-quality coffee in the home.

"Over 33 million Senseo appliances have been sold since its launch in 2001, and with today's agreement we're setting the stage for future success," Nota said.