STiR coffee and tea magazine

24 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 6, 2017 (December / January) handmade in store by the staff and contain no additives. It takes seven hours to make the 40 kg of pearls to keep up with demand. The record to date is 1,000 bubble teas sold in one day. PlayMade currently has 17 outlets in Taiwan, and has also recently opened stores in Canada, Vietnam, and Australia with plans to expand to Hong Kong and South Korea. UK Going Global: The T2 Blueprint T2 is the Australian tea company that has been a distinct success in global expansion. Founded in 1986, it was acquired by Unilever in 2013, when its sales were around $60 million. It then operated 40 stores, mostly in Australia. It now is close to 100, including in New York, Singapore, and across the UK. A November 2017 article summarizes its globalization strategy. This seems a useful general blueprint that captures many of the features of other firms that are expanding into new domestic as well as international markets. The most salient element is the target market. In common with many of the new upmarket tea boutiques, bars, shops and houses, the goal is to build a new generation of tea lovers rather than serve the existing one. The focus is firmly on the tea experience. T2 highlights four elements of this: Design-led: striking and original décor, style, furnishings, ambience; packaging, serving, accessories. Tactile: a smelling bar at the front where customers can sample a wide range of "now sipping" teas. The equiva- lent of a sommelier guides them in tasting savoring aromas, and sensing texture and color. Seeding: T2's expansion sequence begins by identifying markets where it has an accessible "fan base." This includes, for example, Australian ex-pats in such cities as Singapore become T2 brand ambassadors. It launches opera- tions through wholesale accounts, e-commerce and presence in department stores before opening its own stores. Social influencers: This is the most striking aspect of T2's strategy: reliance on third party content in marketing, publicity and brand-building. It reports that this produces three times the customer engagement and ROI than use of its own content. The overall T2 aim is to fuse all these resources to create "the magical immer- sive tea moment." The strategy is not a cookbook for success but an interesting general blueprint for the growing pace and creativity in new generation tea service for new generation customers. Tea Perfume Cosmetics is among the fastest growing field of innovation in using tea for new products. It splits into very skilled research and development, which focuses on the molecular structures, and sophisticated marketing that emphasizes the tea leaf, ambiance, and associations with health and nature. A typical headline is "White tea streaks ahead in anti-aging stakes." Most of the tea is green tea extract. By contrast, a high-end London parfumier offers the Jo Malone Rare Teas collection that infuses the fragranc- es with "precious tea leaves once preserved for emperors." This brews the perfumes very much like a flavored tea. The cost is somewhat higher. A six- ounce bottle, equivalent to an English porcelain teacup, costs about $350. Trade press reviews are largely ecstatic – "uber-luxe", "radiant zest", and "trans- lucent hints." There's the occasional jaded "not at all bad." The tea is the selling point. There are six, each infused with perfume ingredi- ents for many hours – 22 for the Jade Leaf, made from Kyushu, Japan, sencha ariake and 100 for the Midnight Black Yunnan puer. There's also a Phuguri Darjeeling, Jiangsu oolong, Yunnan golden needle and Fujian silver needle. There are added nuances from sandal- wood, styrax, amber, vanilla and labdanum. Whatever they are. Should you wish to buy it, limo over to your local Niemann-Marcus for a $350 bottle of Silver Needle, or walk to the tea store and buy two ounces of the leaf for maybe $20. Go home, dab on one and sip the other. US Teforia Closes Business operations ceased in late October for San Francisco-based Teforia Co., makers of a line of expen- sive smart infusers for fine tea. "We simply couldn't raise the funds required in what is a very difficult time for hardware companies in the smart kitchen space," wrote founder Allen Han. "We will continue to seek a partner that can leverage Teforia technology and/or provide Sips tea sales to continue our mission of elevating the tea experi- ence. Hopefully you will see Teforia technology in future products," wrote Han, who holds more than 30 patents. "We didn't compromise on the Teforia infuser technology, quality, or the premium tea packaged within our Sips (selective infusion profile system)," wrote Han. The company distributed firmware to enable its $400 Teforia Leaf equipment to brew owner-sourced teas as well as Sips (packaged tea). Han, a tea lover who is credited with creating the Xbox 360 and the winner of multiple Red Dot, IDEA, and Good Design awards, designed the Teforia Classic to brew "one perfect cup of tea every time." He succeeded. At World Tea Expo, Teforia was awarded 2016 Best Tea Industry Innovation Award and was named the 2017 Best (Electric) Tea Brewing Device. The innovative brewer, initially priced at more than $1,000, adjusted steep time, agitation, and temperature for premeasured tea in capsules sold online as Sips. These premium teas, from established growers such as Yamamotoyama in Japan, were delivered by subscription as fully recyclable and 90% compostable. The classic brewer could be programmed by smartphone to brew any tea. Teforia machines are wi-fi and Bluetooth enabled and use "Pandora-style learning" to adjust brews to your individual taste. Calculations include the ratio of leaves to water and the number of desired steepings. Leaf shape and varietal and even terroir are part of the recipe. Reviews were favorable, although price raised concerns. The less capable $400 Leaf+ model was introduced in 2017. Unlike the Teforia Classic, the Leaf brewed only Sips capsules available online. Teforia closes down

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