Davids Tea taps coffee veteran for CEO to take on Teavana
Davids Tea recently hired a coffee veteran in a bid to retaliate against Starbucks-owned Teavana on its home turf in Canada. Sylvain Toutant, who previously was president of coffee distributor Keurig Canada, head of Keurig's UK operations and CEO of coffee distributor Van Houtte, was appointed as president and CEO with immediate effect. The move is seen as a response to a recent announcement by Starbucks to bring the Teavana line of teas into its close to 1,400 Starbucks coffee outlets across Canada. Davids Tea currently operates 127 locations in Canada and the US. The Tea Association of Canada estimates annual grocery tea sales of C$423 million and annual food service tea sales of C$760 million.