Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/491356
42 STiR tea & coffee industry international regions). The company's two tea schools offer more than 20 different courses for both amateurs and professionals, providing a wealth of information on the teas, techniques and cultures of India, Sri Lanka, China, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam and other tea regions, as well as tastings and gastronomical pairings. How could tea lovers resist the invita- tion, for example, to "discover and savor the quality of the World's greatest terroirs, experiment with the gong fu cha technique and watch the production of the famous Yixing teapots." What are Consumers Drinking? Black tea blends still seem to the most popular among mainstream tea drinkers. Ac- cording to Grant Kuebler, "Generally Murchies has the most success with our black tea blends. The two most popular teas have been our new Scottish Breakfast and Canadian Breakfast, which are fairly traditional blends and true to Murchie's roots." Canadian consumers are also fond of flavored greens, herbal infusions such as rooibos, chamomile, fruit blends, and blends that contain superfoods such as gogi ber- ries and mulberry leaves. Ron Sadler, managing director, Canada at Twinings North America, says that Twinings has seen green tea sales stagnate over the past three years while sales of herbals have increased by 42%. "Green was the darling three years ago but people do need information about how to brew it well. Flavored greens are still popular but sales are flat. What consumers are looking for at the moment is the wow factor in terms of flavor and aroma. Chamomile is our top seller and customers love blends such as chamomile, honey and vanilla, and pomegranate and raspberry," said Sadler. Also popular are white tea, decaffeinated teas, tea lattes and green iced teas. Older consumers still seem to prefer hot black tea while younger households often choose flavored greens, tea lattes, white tea and rooibos. Around 96% of tea drinkers (mainly those over the age of 55) say that they use tea bags; 43% (younger to middle-aged con- sumers particularly in the Ontario and British Columbia areas) apparently choose loose leaf; and 26% (mainly those aged 20-24) use pods – a relatively new format for tea. Specialty tea continues to grow and is up 4% on 2012 value with premium specialty up 7%. A significant change also worth noting is that consumption out-of-home is growing as well, especially among younger couples with children. The fact that Teava- na locate 62 of its 351 outlets in Canada has meant specialty teas are now more readily available. Starbucks spent $620 million to acquire Teavana in 2011 and intends to build 1000 more stores in the next few years, recognition of the growing consumption of foodservice opportunities and the demand for more variety and better quality. When it comes to the choice of how people brew – bags, loose or pods – it is pods that have shown the largest increase in popularity. Nielsen reports 16% of tea drinkers said that they use more tea bags than a year ago, 28% say they buy more loose leaf, and 45% have increased their use of pods. The use of pods has grown by 67% in the past year. Ron Sadler says that pods are driving the growth in the market at the moment: "Pods are an easy way to bridge from cof- fee to tea. People are used to using pods in their coffee machines and younger consumers particularly like the conve- nience of this single-serve format. Single serve pods such as Tassimo Twinings range and Keurig Twinings K-cup pods are energizing the market at the moment. The number one Twinings variety at the moment is the Chai Latte." Euromonitor International reports that overall growth of the Canadian mar- The Tea Emporium, Lakeshore Blvd., Toronto Fine tea counter inside Loblaw's Grocery, downtown Toronto. DAVIDsTEA shop in Upper East Side New York City, one of 107 locations.