Love a good cuppa? We do too.
As it turns out, there’s not many of us who don’t. In the UK we consume around 36 billion cups of tea a year. It is predicated that the annual tea market in the UK will exceed £1.9 billion in 2025 (Statista) and according to Nielsen, we’re now drinking 38% more tea than we were before lockdown.
Known for being a cornerstone of British culture, our love of tea has developed over the years from the traditional loose-leaf variety, right through to speciality flavours such as herbal and green teas which are growing in popularity year on year. So if you love a good brew, these tea trends are the ones to watch:
Fruit and Herbal Teas
Demand for wellness and health teas is predicted to grow 7% YOY with herbal, fruit and green teas proving ever popular (Data Bridge Market Research) But it doesn’t stop there, you may need to add the more unusual brews like Matcha, Lemon Balm and Kombucha to your café offerings. As the demand for functional food and drinks that offer health benefits soars, consumers are looking to experiment with ever more unusual flavours. It goes without saying that natural ingredients are a must.
Increased Tea Options
Like herbal and fruit teas, speciality teas are predicted to enjoy strong growth. Tea lovers are no longer satisfied with one or two standard choices and now expect speciality teas and unique blends in cafes. Consumers are even looking to add herbs to create their own bespoke brew from ingredients such as Ginseng, CBD and Turmeric.
Increased Formats
Just like coffee, there’s no shortage of new formats on the market. Whilst tea bags and loose-leaf teas still account for majority of tea sales, new innovations such as Waterdrop’s dissolvable tea cube are now emerging. As well as cold brew formats such as iced tea and ready-to-drink teas consumers are always on the lookout for new formats to enjoy.
The Home Barista
Even after the pandemic, many of us have gained an appetite for preparing high-quality speciality drinks at home. As more and more people are now working from home the sales of specialist coffee and tea equipment is on the rise. Tea infusers, tea presses and tea flasks are all coveted options over the humble kettle.
A Fair Brew
With the rise of the conscious consumer, fairtrade and organic tea continues to grow in popularity. Fairtrade tea ensures that people who grow and pick tea can earn a fair living. While organic tea uses no chemicals, pesticides or chemical fertilizers in harvesting the tea. Fairtrade tea sales grew 14%, while organic sales rocketed by 43% (Kantar Worldpanel).
P.S. Even though we love a good brew, it’s good to know coffee still eclipses tea in sales consumption, over 70 billion cups of coffee are consumed every year in the UK vs the 36 billion cups of tea.