PLI was expanded in September 2007 to include a number of large European markets. This was followed in 2003 by a second joint venture, Pepsi-Lipton International (PLI), covering many non-United States markets. In 1991, Unilever created a first joint venture with PepsiCo, the Pepsi Lipton Partnership, for the marketing of ready to drink (bottled and canned) teas in North America. The Lipton tea business was acquired by consumer goods company Unilever in a number of separate transactions, starting with the purchase of the United States and Canadian Lipton business in 1938 and completed in 1972 when Unilever bought the remainder of the global Lipton business from Allied Suppliers. He arranged packaging and shipping at low cost, and sold his tea in packets by the pound (454g), half-pound (227g), and quarter-pound (113g), with the advertising slogan: 'Direct from the tea gardens to the teapot.' Lipton teas were an immediate success in the United States. In 1890 Lipton purchased tea gardens in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, from where he packaged and sold the first Lipton tea. Sales had doubled from £40 million in the late 1870s to £80 million by the mid-1880s. One such item was tea, a rare and expensive luxury at the time. Shortly after opening his shop Thomas Lipton began travelling the world for new items to stock. Allied was acquired by Argyll Foods in 1982 the supermarket business was rebranded as Presto during the 1980s.ĭevelopment Lipton advertisement of 1926 Lipton's became a supermarket chain focused on small towns. The group traded in the high street under various names, but was registered on the UK stock market as Allied Suppliers.

In 1929, the Lipton grocery retail business was one of the companies that merged with Home and Colonial Stores, Maypole Dairy Company, Vyes & Boroughs, Templetons, Galbraiths & Pearks to form a food group with more than 3,000 shops. In 1871, Thomas Lipton (1848–1931) of Glasgow, Scotland, used his small savings to open his own shop, and by the 1880s the business had grown to more than 200 shops. For the personal history of Thomas Lipton, see Thomas Lipton.

Lipton brisk mango tea