{"id":239164,"date":"2024-07-03T05:16:28","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T05:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/03\/can-gen-z-save-tea-how-young-brits-are-reigniting-love-for-the-classic-cuppa-amidst-a-crisis-of-relevance\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:15:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:15:36","slug":"can-gen-z-save-tea-how-young-brits-are-reigniting-love-for-the-classic-cuppa-amidst-a-crisis-of-relevance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/03\/can-gen-z-save-tea-how-young-brits-are-reigniting-love-for-the-classic-cuppa-amidst-a-crisis-of-relevance\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Gen Z save tea? How young Brits are reigniting love for the classic cuppa amidst a crisis of relevance"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In May, the parent companies of two leading British tea brands reported record sales: Kallo Foods, which owns Clipper Teas, jumped 8% to \u00a3121.7 million ($155.5 million) in 2023, while Bettys and Taylors, which owns domestic market leader Yorkshire Tea, grew turnover 14% to \u00a3295.7 million ($375.5 million).<\/p>\n

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Shortly afterwards, Twinings\u2014another top brand, owned by Associated British Foods\u2014reported its highest ever after-tax earnings of \u00a377 million ($97.8 million).<\/p>\n

So far, you might say, so unsurprising. Everyone knows the Brits love their tea, which George Orwell once described as \u201cone the mainstays of civilization\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n

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George Orwell once described tea as \u201cone the mainstays of civilization\u201d in the country.<\/figcaption>

ullstein bild\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But take a closer look, and you\u2019ll see this isn\u2019t quite service as usual.<\/p>\n

Tea is indeed popular\u2014the U.K. quaffs about 36 billion cups<\/a> in a year, with half the population partaking daily\u2014but consumption has fallen precipitously, particularly for black tea, volumes of which have been dropping 2-3% annually for decades, as the bitter aroma of barista-style coffee wafts increasingly though Britain\u2019s high streets.<\/p>\n

So does the recent spate of bumper sales mean the time for tea has come again?<\/p>\n

The coffee shop conundrum<\/h2>\n

If \u2018builder\u2019s tea\u2019\u2014black, dispensed in tea bags, usually served with milk, often with sugar\u2014is making a comeback, it\u2019s not showing in the data.<\/p>\n

According to Kiti Soininen, Category Director, UK Food & Drink Research at market research firm Mintel, \u201cthe ordinary tea bag segment has resumed its long-term volume decline\u201d after a brief hiatus during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

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A box of Yorkshire Tea.<\/figcaption>

John Keeble\u2014Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This shouldn\u2019t be a surprise, if you consider where the market started.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go back to the 1970s, pretty much the only hot drink we had was tea. We had the odd instant coffee, but we were a tea-drinking nation,\u201d says Ben Newbury, head of brand marketing for Yorkshire Tea at Betty\u2019s and Taylor\u2019s. As the variety and quality of alternative beverages increased, led by but not limited to coffee, the only way was down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Newbury believes that this inevitable incumbency effect has been compounded by a sense of apathy and defeatism in the sector. \u201cA lot of other manufacturers and brands just stopped talking about tea and its benefits,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Yorkshire Tea is certainly unusual in having enjoyed recent growth in both value (revenue) and volume (the number of tea bags sold) terms of 21% and 12%, respectively, in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It did this by growing market share in black tea, which Newbury attributes to its premium positioning within the mass market. In a cost of living crisis, it turns out, Brits found cutting back on \u00a35 ($6.35) skinny lattes more palatable than skimping a few pennies on a tea bag.<\/p>\n

Most others reporting strong results did so despite dwindling volumes, with sales growing directly on higher prices due to cost inflation.<\/p>\n

Yorkshire isn\u2019t the only brand to have realized the advantages of being premium, says Soininen, pointing to Tata-owned Tetley launching its Golden Brew, and Lipton\u2014the world\u2019s largest tea company, spun out from Unilever in 2022 with over 30 brands\u2014relaunching its mass market U.K. brand PG Tips last year with a higher emphasis on quality.<\/p>\n