Building a range for today’s shopper
THERE’S just no separating UK consumers from their cuppas.
Whether it’s the first thing in the morning or to help unwind at the end of a long day at work, there are plenty of tea variants to suit all consumer needs.
Reflecting evolving consumer preferences with the right range is key to category success in the convenience channel and Tuuli Turunen, head of marketing for Tetley at Tata Consumer Products, reckons this could be key to driving sales.
“Beyond the everyday, tea is fast becoming an affordable indulgence and just as awareness of provenance and taste has escalated in the coffee sector, tea lovers are becoming more attuned to what’s on offer.
“Taking people on a personal journey with their tea experience is an important goal for Tetley,” she said.
Tetley research collected by OnePoll in 2021 found that 43% of 2,000 tea drinkers admitted that they could not start their day without a cup of tea.
Standard black teas are a strong choice for this, Turunen said, and suggested stocking Tetley’s 80s and 240s packs.
Since tea will be a weekly shop staple for these consumers, most will be looking for the brand that offers the best value for money, especially as the cost-of-living crisis continues on.
Turunen suggested Tetley’s PMP range should hit the mark here and highlighted the Tetley 80s £2.89 PMP, which works out at just a little over 3p per teabag.
“Tata’s Shopper Centric Study 2021 showed that 70% of shoppers are happy to pay a little more for quality, so it is worth giving a little thought to what would make up the right tea offering for your store and the brands that will appeal most and add value to the basket,” she said.
Offering an affordable tea option may be vital, but there are still opportunities for c-store retailers to upsell according to Turunen.
When celebrating special moments, consumers look for more indulgent options. Turunen said that when consumers want to create a special moment, premium choices “come to the fore.”
To capitalise on these opportunities, Turunen recommended retailers add options such as Tetley’s new Tetley Gold to their range.
A more premium brew, Gold is described as a “sophisticated blend of the finest African and Assam teas,” with an RRP of £2.85 for a pack of 75 bags.
Tetley has also introduced a new range of fruit flavoured black teas. The Tetley Discovery Range incorporates flavours such as lemon and ginger, cinnamon, apple and vanilla and red berries.
Turunen said: “Although a smaller sector in the category, as we have seen with Tetley Green Lemon, teas with added flavours appeal to a discerning tea lover and we can see this in the growing adoption of different flavours as fruit and herbal teas are increasingly adopted into healthy lifestyles.”
Another trend worth paying attention to is the increasing consumer awareness of the impact their consumption has on the natural world.
Tetley has been reacting to consumers’ environmental concerns: all Tetley teas are Rainforest Alliance certified with a ‘green frog’ logo on packs to communicate this to consumers.
New Tetley tea bags are also now 100% biodegradable and suitable for food waste collection.
Cassie Shutterwood, sustainability and communication manager at Tata Consumer Products, said: “Once we have transitioned all our tea bag production to the new type of tissue, we will have successfully removed over 270 tonnes of non-biodegradable plastic from our UK tea bag production, that’s equivalent to 38 double decker buses, a significant milestone in our commitment to remove all unnecessary and non-recyclable plastics from our business by 2025.”
