Expanding on Tea Trends
What trends are you seeing with teas? Are you seeing any seasonality trends?
Tea is a category that continues to expand. Many widespread trends can be applied to tea.
Sparkling Iced tea is a good example. Carbonated water is becoming extremely popular. Sparkling tea offerings are growing as this trend grows. Milk teas are also growing in popularity due to the growth of different plant-based milks that can be added to tea. The growth in popularity of different sugars like light, dark, or turbinado sugars that add an additional depth of flavor are becoming very trendy.
Teas infused with flavors like mango, peach, guava, or lemon are more popular during hot months. Flavors with more robust and spicy flavors like chai tea are preferred when the weather starts to cool down. Seasons and weather are important factors in the selection of drinks. Nothing more refreshing than a glass of sweet tea during a hot summer day. Having a more robust flavor, herbal teas tend to be preferred during mid-morning and noon.
What tips to you have for operators looking to up their tea game?
Be creative: Consumers are willing to try new global exotic flavors. Make sure you communicate the offering and detail the ingredients in the drink.
To-go offerings: Many consumers are still relying heavily on to go food orders. Add gallons of sweet tea with different flavors as offerings in your to-go menu. They are well accepted by the public because the price point of a gallon of tea is perceived as extremely affordable.
What do you think drives consumers to consider tea over another caffeinated beverage?
Coffee and tea are the most widely consumed drinks in the world. They provide very different sensorial experiences to consumers. There are many reasons consumers consider tea over coffee:
- Variety of flavors
- To reduce caffeine intake
- Perceived as healthier
- Ease of preparation
