STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 37 closed the physical locations and has since marketed exclusively by email, on Facebook (1,000 followers), on Tumblr, and Twit- ter (2,600 followers). "My stores closed four years ago, a lucky turn," she writes, "Wholesale and retail online was the future." Since moving on- line, she has funded her venture by catering to birthday parties, conducting Qi Gong sound healing, hosting cooking demon- strations, developing mixologist recipes, teaching meditation, and conducting children's art classes, "with tea being the thread of it all." Her new High Tea line of cold-brewed bottled CBD blends offers "healing and taking out the fear all around us," she writes. "Discovery is challenging online, but I see this as an op- portunity for every independent retailer to step in and provide that experience for consumers," writes Weber. "We are living in a Covid world where discovery seems to be paramount - peo- ple are making bread from scratch in droves - they're pulling out recipes that take an entire day to prepare - they are filling their time to discover. This is an opportunity for everyone who wants to share the specialty world of tea to their customers and be creative about it. If your store is closed due to restrictions, then offer online cuppings - send samples to customers and schedule experiential online events. If your store is open, use the thirst for discovery people have at the moment and leverage it," she advises. Like Novalle at T Salon, "small independent operators need to get creative and think beyond 'the usual way' of doing things," says Weber. Dugarr in India created domestic tea brands to serve lo- cal markets unfamiliar with specialty blends. He was forced to close a profitable retail location at the Mumbai airport tempo- rarily but supplies six markets in Pune, a dozen in Bangalore and 31 in Mumbai. Only Leaf is a premium loose leaf green tea marketed to upscale drinkers growing about 60% to 65%, month-on-month, he said. His premium chai is marketed like Tupperware, employing homemakers selling to friends and fam- ily. Multi-level marketing by Steeped Tea in Canada, perfected by founders Hatem and Tonia Jahshan since 2006, elevated their Sipology brand to more than $20 million in annual sales, thanks to a network of more than 10,000 "sipologists." Ready-to-drink tea Market researchers predict a combined annual growth rate of 4.5% through 2026 for ready-to-drink tea, reaching $98.5 billion from $93.8 billion in 2020. Revenue is dominated by Asian brands marketed by Suntory, Ting Hsin International, Ito En, Uni-President. Nestle and Uni- lever and Danone own the bottled coffee and tea segment in Eu- rope, gradually shedding its "high-fructose" and artificial heritage. In the US, Beverage Marketing Corp. notes that "through partnerships, acquisitions, and organic growth, the leading soft drink firms now dominate the ready-to-drink market." By 2018 the Pepsi-Lipton partnership commanded a 31.8% share. Coca-Cola brands, including Pure Leaf and Honest Tea accounted for 21.4% market share, and Keurig Arizona was next at 11.8% and Dr Pepper (Snapple) held 7.1% of the market. In Boston, Evy Chen brews and bottling organic, sustain- able, artisan cold-brewed tea at an unprecedented pace. Smaller brands like Evy's Tea make up about 28% of the overall market. "There has not yet to be a contender to take on the big boys, and if Evy Tea does it right, we can be that brand," says Chen. "I believe the future of RTD tea lays in better for you, clean ingre- dients and brand narrative," she says. Chen is doing multi-serve packaging and direct-to-consumer sales. Retail partners include Amazon, meal delivery services and grocery delivery, she says. Prescription for success Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor, is troubled by the expense and difficulty digital retailing presents. Tea websites are static. Mes- saging has got to be compelling. Change it out daily, make mov- ies making tea, not static messaging. You have go to get my attention," he advises. "Too many retailers are jumping into the game at half time," observes Phibbs. "You need to get them at the kickoff when then they have questions. Get in front of the consumer," he said. He suggests studying websites designed by vintners and ci- gar aficionados. "Tea is a sensory product. It must be experi- enced to be judged. Sip it and tell them what image comes to mind but don't give up on the physical. "While initially online car purchases surged, shoppers are re- turning to showrooms as the economy reopens. The same pat- tern is unfolding in food, with Americans going back to neigh- borhood grocers and restaurants after dabbling online," he said. The same will be true for tea. Online grocery sales tripled in the past five years and were expected to grow five-fold prior to the pandemic, which accelerated the trend. UPS reported 65% jump in delivery of retail goods as delivery times lengthen and logistics becomes more complicated. In April 63% of consumers purchased groceries online within the previous 60 days, compared to 53% January 2020, according to Chicory consulting. Thirty-one percent now spend $50-75 per week and 25% spend more than $100 per order.

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