Prepared Foods Exclusive: Specialty Tea Industry Steaming Toward a Full-on Boil
For an industry that for decades has evoked images of fine ceramic tea pots, ornate Victorian-style parties and just good old black iced tea, there are major changes underway. Thousands of new tea products have been rolled out worldwide in the last few years, hundreds of hip new tea shops are serving up exotic brews in 21st century cafe motifs and leading coffee purveyor Starbucks is bolstering operations with new tea menu items. Sales of tea within the U.S. pre-1990 were less than $1 billion dollars annually, and herbal ‘’teas” often times enjoyed more of the beverage spotlight than real tea (Camellia sinensis). In the 1990’s, savvy marketers rolled out a stream of convenient, tasty and fun ready-to-drink (RTD) tea beverages that lifted tea industry revenues into the billions and captured the palates of consumers previously entrenched in soda pop. Market analysts forecast sales of tea in the U.S. will exceed $10 billion by the end of 2010 and stay on track to grow considerably more during the next few years. No longer just the darling of classical tea rooms and back-porch sun tea jars, tea as an ingredient, product category and even lifestyle component, is rising to new levels of success and enjoyment with consumers and marketers.
While specialty tea--value-added tea products vs. traditional tea formats--is flourishing internationally, the U.S. has become a proving ground for innovation, testing and launch. Tea entrepreneurs bored with conventional tea offerings are synergizing classic tea traditions with contemporary, chic twists designed to capture the palates and loyalty of younger consumers. New styles of tea bags, outrageous flavors, fortified RTDs and sustainable marketing initiatives are some of the ways in which tea is being reinvented. The 76 million American Baby Boomers born between the years of 1946-1964 are reaching for healthy lifestyle products, including tea, as they settle into middle age. Further evidence of the rising tide of “all things tea” is the emergence of a trade show dedicated exclusively to tea. The World Tea Expo (www.worldteaexpo.com), based in Las Vegas, launched in 2003 and has since experienced annual average growth (exhibitors and attendees) of over 30% a year; twice in the last three years, the event has been named as one of the fastest-growing trade shows in America. To be held May 2-4 this year, the tea-only show draws tea producers from all over the planet, branded consumer products, service companies and yes, also purveyors of ornate tea service ware. “The diversity and numbers of tea products and services showcased at World Tea Expo by micro-ventures and international corporations are staggering. The show has become both a launch pad and vital business networking site for the burgeoning tea industry,” notes George Jage, president of SFG Group and founder of the expo.