MONROE, La. (KNOE) With many holidays in January, it's important not to miss one for all tea lovers out there. January marks National Hot Tea Month!
Since January is coming to an end, tea-drinking can be celebrated all year long.
Jen Avis, a health expert from the St. Francis Medical Center, joined us to talk about the benefits tea drinking can have. Avis says teas are a healthy alternative to sugary drinks. She also says that green tea is great for mixing with other tea flavors.
Drinking up to three cups of green tea a day can even kill cancer cells.
Here are some other additional positive affects tea drinking can have.
- Hot tea helps with focus and attention
- Drinking tea is better for your heart than coffee
- Some teas can help boost metabolism and reduce blood pressure
Unilever is considering the sale of its tea operations after years of lukewarm growth as consumers brew less black tea in favor of varieties like green tea, matcha and chai. The company is in the midst of a "strategic review" of its global tea brands that could result in the sale of its household names Lipton and PG Tips.
Black tea comprises two-thirds of Unilever’s tea segment, which generates $3.3 billion in yearly sales globally for Unilever, however, sales have dropped in developed markets in recent years due to changing consumer preferences, the company told analysts on a conference call Thursday. Its premium herbal tea brand, Pukka, which has varieties like mint matcha green, ginger and turmeric, meanwhile, has performed well, said the company, which also owns elevated brands like T2 and Tazo.
Unilever is considering the sale of its tea operations. (Lipton).
Tea had a global market value of nearly $50 billion in 2017, and the market is slated to surge to more than $73 billion by 2024. But consumers are increasingly seeking out beverages with functional ingredients – whether it’s probiotics in kombucha (fermented tea) to boost gut health, anti-inflammatory benefits from turmeric teas or an energy boost from antioxidants loaded in green teas.
“We’re seeing a declining interest in [black] tea, but a huge boom in specialty teas like matcha, yerba matte and all sorts of chai. What’s doing well is functional ingredients like turmeric and ginger,” Graham Fortgang, co-founder of MatchaBar, the celebrity-backed café and retailer known for its fine-ground green tea lattes, told FOX Business.
Cold sparkling teas have also been saturating the category. Unilever and PepsiCo teamed up in 2015 to distribute Lipton Sparkling Iced Tea in flavors like peach and lemonade and sales volume fell by 1 percent to 6 percent for its household brands like Coke and Pepsi. And the sparkling tea category featuring carbonated ready-to-drink teas is on track to grow by 9.24 percent in the next year.
Fortgang bottled the brand’s first carbonated, tea-based energy drink, Hustle, a matcha-based sip that contains as much caffeine as a Red Bull (120 milligrams). It's being sold at 5,000 stores across the country, including in mainstream retailers like CVS and Walmart. The business has more than doubled since it launched last year, as more demand for the energy-boosting tea grows.
A Chinese study published earlier this month in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology suggests that drinking green tea three times a week can reduce the risk of developing heart disease or stroke or even dying of cardiovascular disease, and it is also said to lower the risk of dying by any cause. And other studies have said drinking tea -- specifically, green tea, which is packed with antioxidants -- can lower blood pressure, prevent cancer and increase longevity.
Emerging brand Minna Sparkling Tea also has a sparkling green tea beverage in its portfolio and has revamped regular black tea with flavors like orange peel, mango and lime infused in its sparkling canned beverage.
A bedtime classic, Sleepytime herbal tea is made with calming chamomile, spearmint, and lemongrass that not only relaxes you at night but smells amazing. It's made without any artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives, and the tea bags are stringless to reduce excess waste.
映画『転がるビー玉』の先行公開初日舞台あいさつが31日に渋谷にあるミニシアター「WHITE CINE QUINTO（ホワイトシネクイント）」で行われ、萩原みのりがクランクアップの日に経験したという吉川愛と今泉佑唯からのお茶目なサプライズについて明かした。この日は吉川、萩原、今泉とともに共演者の笠松将、大野いと、宇賀那健一監督も姿を見せた。
PG Tips and other Unilever tea brands are under review. Photo: PA
PG Tips and other tea brands could be sold off by food and drink giant Unilever, which blamed “subdued consumer demand” as it announced a review of its black tea business.
PG Tips is one of Britain’s leading tea brands, but figures suggest traditional tea sales have slowed in recent years as coffee and herbal tea have boomed in popularity.
British-Dutch firm Unilever (ULVR.L) confirmed on Thursday it had launched a “strategic review” of its global tea business, which includes PG Tips, Lipton, and Pure Leaf.
"We will look at all options for the business," its chief finance officer Graeme Pitkethly said, according to Reuters, including a potential sale of part or all of its tea division.
The company did not provide UK figures, but said the volume of black tea sales had fallen around the world in “developed markets” as more consumers steered clear of the traditional cuppa.
Unilever’s full-year results for 2019 said its income from tea sales still rose, as “price-led growth” offset lower overall sales.
Tea sales make up a significant part of its food and refreshment arm, which saw volumes drop 0.2% but underlying sales revenue up 1.5%. Unilever said its operating profits on its wider business globally plummeted from €12.6bn (£10.7bn) in 2018 to €8.7bn (£7.4bn) last year.
It said herbal tea sales were increasingly popular, however. “We continued to focus on the growing segments of premium black tea, black tea in emerging markets and fruit and herbal variants, with our premium herbal brand Pukka performing well.”
Once Britain’s most popular and iconic drink, black tea’s dominance appears to be under threat as consumers have increasingly embraced coffee and herbal alternatives.
80% of tea brands surveyed last year by the organisers of National Tea Day highlighted a growing trend for health and wellness teas.
But even their report acknowledged there has also been a “coffee revolution” in Britain. The number of coffee shops and their sales has risen for the past 20 years, according to research by Project Café.
Figures suggest builder’s tea remains one of Britain’s favourite beverages despite its apparent decline, with an estimated 165 million cups drunk every day.
OCEAN CITY, Md.— Hoop Tea, Inc. announced the launch of its first official registered equity crowdfunding campaign in partnership with WeFunder. Hoop Tea is raising capital to grow the brand from local success to national beverage brand. Hoop Tea will use the capital to expand new and existing territories and develop new flavors. The WeFunder campaign launched on Tuesday, January 28th and has raised over $70,000 so far. It will run for a 60 day period. Investment is open to the public with a minimum investment of $1,000 USD.
Daniel Robinson, Founder and CEO says, “It’s rewarding to be part of a company like this. We’re raising money through crowdfunding because we want as many people as possible to be a part of this. It’s only fair that our loyal tribe of fans get to share in that feeling of building something bigger than ourselves. I see this as an opportunity to own part of this company without having to quit your job and move to the beach.”
Hoop Tea launches crowdfunding campaign as industry trend reports show unprecedented growth in the Flavored Malt Beverage category, consumer packaged teas, and better for you craft brands.
Hoop Tea is a craft alcoholic iced tea that was born at the beach in Ocean City, MD at Backshore Brewery in the summer of 2015. Hoop Tea has shown remarkable sales growth and traction in regional Mid-Atlantic states. Hoop Tea has been able to do millions in sales in only 4 short years and has dominated hard tea sales beating out national competitors. “It is time to pour fuel on the fire by hiring a rockstar team, increase production and expand distribution. The demand for Hoop Tea is growing faster than we can supply the product. We’ve proven that we can compete and win against larger established competitors. It is thrilling to imagine what this company can do with access to adequate funding.” said Robinson.
About Hoop Tea
Hoop Tea is an alcoholic tea brand that started at a brewery on the beach in Ocean City, Maryland. Hoop Tea makes thoughtful, free spirited products with diverse flavors for modern consumers who place importance on health and wellness, but still want to enjoy a vibrant social life.
About Wefunder
Wefunder is the largest Regulation Crowdfunding portal by every measure. Wefunder is a crowdfunding service which connects startups with investors online. Wefunder uses a provision in the 2012 JOBS Act which allows accredited and non-accredited investors to invest in emerging products and companies.
The tea drinks are infused with hops, and made without sugars, additives or fermentation. The lack of fermentation differs them from kombucha, resulting in a 0.0% ABV drink. HopTea has six core SKUs.
Co-founders Dean Eberhardt and Andrew Markley launched HopTea in May 2018 with the intent of producing a unique alcohol alternative, separate from seltzers, sodas and juices. They use whole leaf tea and flowers for their base and organic flavorings.
At the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco this month, HopTea sampled its latest flavor. The Hoplemousse One is made from a white tea base with grapefruit, and is similar to a citrus radler beer. It joins The Green Tea One, The Calm One, The Lemony One, The White Tea One and The Really Hoppy One.
Black tea, white tea, green tea and chamomile are all used as foundations to the beverages. HopTea is based in Boulder, Colorado and the core six are sold in retail, cafes and bars in the local Denver area.
HopTea told BeverageDaily that the black tea drinks are the most ‘hoppy,’ the green tea resembles a pale ale and the Lemony flavor is compared most to an authentic beer taste. The brand operates a taproom in Boulder that also rotates limited edition flavors.
Though the teas are positioned as a non-alcoholic beer alternative, HopTea said they have not experienced much competition in their category. Consumers like them as a standalone drink or a palate cleanser, and they mostly compete with kombucha and cold brew drinks.
“No one is directly aligned with what we’re doing,” HopTea said.
Unilever, which owns Lipton, has a sizable presence in emerging markets like India and the Middle East.Photo: Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket/Getty Images
The world’s largest tea maker is considering getting out of the tea business.
Unilever PLC is exploring the sale of its tea operations after years of weak consumption, in a sign of how changing consumer tastes are roiling some of the world’s oldest and best-known food and drink brands.
The company, which owns brands including Lipton and PG Tips, has struggled to drive growth in black tea, which makes up the bulk of its portfolio. Consumption of the drink has declined in the U.S., Europe and other developed markets as consumers increasingly reach for other types of tea, as well as coffee and bottled water.
The review of the business, which generates annual sales of about €3 billion ($3.3 billion), could lead to an outright sale, part ownership or some other structure, Chief Financial Officer Graeme Pitkethly said Thursday.
While sales to the developed world have flagged, Unilever’s tea business includes a sizable presence in emerging markets like India and the Middle East, where black tea volumes continue to grow. It also has exposure to herbal and green tea, of which volumes are also growing.
The news came as Unilever, which also owns Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Dove soap, reported anemic sales growth for the fourth quarter and said it was continuing to evaluate its broader portfolio. Underlying sales growth for the last three months of 2019 came in at 1.5%, down from 2.9% in the prior-year period, but slightly ahead of the 1.4% analysts had expected.
Unilever has tried to pivot away from black tea in the developed world, buying Pukka Herbs, a British organic herbal tea maker, and Tazo Tea from StarbucksCorp. It also bought premium Australian tea company T2, which sells pricey loose leaf in flavors like beetroot and broccoli and red chocolate mint. It has since rolled the brand out internationally.
For 2019, Unilever’s tea volumes dropped, even as prices helped buoy sales overall.
“All of that premiumization activity still is not able to make a difference because of the size of the black tea category,” said Mr. Pitkethly.
Unilever became a tea giant in 1971 when it acquired Lipton, a business founded by a young Scottish entrepreneur. In 1984, it bought Brooke Bond, the world’s largest tea company, giving it the leading position in Britain, a nation of avid tea drinkers.
Unilever has come up with new products for decades in an attempt to forestall any slowdown, including pyramid-shaped tea bags in the 1990s, which it claimed improved taste.
The company says Lipton is the world’s most popular tea brand and that over 270,000 cups of Unilever tea are brewed every minute globally. Unilever has a presence in about 20 countries, including tea manufacturing facilities. That has sometimes led to criticism of its working conditions, which Unilever has tried to combat by disclosing a full list of its suppliers.
Thursday’s announcement is the latest sign of how packaged food makers are being forced to make big changes to respond to fast-changing shopper tastes. It comes after Unilever sold its 145-year-old margarine and spreads business in 2018 for about $8 billion, after years of unsuccessfully trying to jump-start growth.
From the Archives
Sales for the largest packaged food companies have fallen as changing tastes, startup brands and e-commerce giants threaten from all angles. WSJ’s Ken Brown takes us on a walk through the supermarket.
In December, Unilever disappointed investors, warning that sales growth on an underlying basis—which strips out currency and acquisition impacts—would be below its guidance of 3% to 5% in 2019.
The company still expects growth for 2020 to be in the lower half of its 3%-5% target but said Thursday it hadn’t accounted for the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Unilever has a large business selling food preparation products in China, and restaurants and banqueting halls have taken a big hit from the virus, said Mr. Pitkethly.
Unilever’s full-year revenue edged up to €51.98 billion from €50.98 billion. Net profit fell to €5.63 billion from €9.37 billion, as Unilever came up against a year-ago period that benefited from a large gain from the sale of its spreads business.
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Aside from tea, Unilever is battling changing tastes and rising competition in other product categories. The company has continued to struggle in North America where it is battling longtime rival Procter & GambleCo. and others including a host of small shampoo brands.
“It’s become very competitively intense, we’ve been losing share over the course of 2019,” said Mr. Pitkethly, adding that Unilever’s Suave and TRESemmé brands were having a particularly tough time in the U.S. “To be honest our innovation program in TRESemme wasn’t very successful last year.”
Apart from slow growth and fierce competition in North America—its biggest market by sales—Unilever is also dealing with an economic slowdown in India, its largest market by volume, along with slowing demand and disruptions to distribution in Nigeria and Ghana.
On Thursday, the company said fourth-quarter underlying sales growth in developed markets declined 0.6%, compared with growth of 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2018, while emerging markets grew just 2.8%, down from 4.5% a year earlier.
Unilever stock climbed on Thursday as the consumer goods giant launched a strategic review of its tea business amid declining demand.
The Lipton and PG Tips owner reported net profit of €6 billion in 2019, a 38% drop from the previous year, as it blamed a slowdown in South Asia and market softening in China.
The company, which said demand for black tea in developed markets was declining, is now mulling a sale of its tea business. The stock climbed 1.8% in early trading.
Sales grew 1.5% in the fourth quarter, while underlying sales growth of 2.9% for the full-year fell below the company’s multiyear range target of 3-5%.
Sales growth in 2020 will land in the lower half of the multiyear range, Unilever added.
The company warned in December 2019 that it would miss sales targets for last year and endure a tough start to 2020, sending shares tumbling 5%.
The Anglo-Dutch conglomerate has been hit by a slowdown in India and China, while the Ben & Jerry’s owner has also been affected by lower ice cream sales in 2019 compared with those during 2018’s hot summer.
Unilever has been focusing on premium tea as well as fruit and herbal tea in recent quarters in a bid to revive the struggling unit. The segment continued to weigh on its results last year, as sales in its food and refreshments business, which includes ice creams and Hellmann’s mayonnaise, rose 1.5% in the year with volumes falling 0.2%.
Looking ahead.
Chief Executive Alan Jope reiterated the company’s plan to improve brand awareness and focus on faster growing areas. Low-growth brands are under threat, as seen with the company’s spreads business that was sold in 2017 for £6 billion. The tea business could well be the next in line.
Despite missing sales targets and profits plunging, Unilever’s portfolio of global household names remains strong and the company expects a recovery in the second half of 2020. However, Jope warned the impact of the coronavirus remains “unknown.”
PG Tips and other Unilever tea brands are under review. Photo: PA
PG Tips and other tea brands could be sold off by food and drink giant Unilever, which blamed “subdued consumer demand” as it announced a review of its black tea business.
PG Tips is one of Britain’s leading tea brands, but figures suggest traditional tea sales have slowed in recent years as coffee and herbal tea have boomed in popularity.
British-Dutch firm Unilever (ULVR.L) confirmed on Thursday it had launched a “strategic review” of its global tea business, which includes PG Tips, Lipton, and Pure Leaf.
"We will look at all options for the business," its chief finance officer Graeme Pitkethly said, according to Reuters, including a potential sale of part or all of its tea division.
The company did not provide UK figures, but said the volume of black tea sales had fallen around the world in “developed markets” as more consumers steered clear of the traditional cuppa.
Unilever’s full-year results for 2019 said its income from tea sales still rose, as “price-led growth” offset lower overall sales.
Tea sales make up a significant part of its food and refreshment arm, which saw volumes drop 0.2% but underlying sales revenue up 1.5%. Unilever said its operating profits on its wider business globally plummeted from €12.6bn (£10.7bn) in 2018 to €8.7bn (£7.4bn) last year.
It said herbal tea sales were increasingly popular, however. “We continued to focus on the growing segments of premium black tea, black tea in emerging markets and fruit and herbal variants, with our premium herbal brand Pukka performing well.”
Once Britain’s most popular and iconic drink, black tea’s dominance appears to be under threat as consumers have increasingly embraced coffee and herbal alternatives.
80% of tea brands surveyed last year by the organisers of National Tea Day highlighted a growing trend for health and wellness teas.
But even their report acknowledged there has also been a “coffee revolution” in Britain. The number of coffee shops and their sales has risen for the past 20 years, according to research by Project Café.
Figures suggest builder’s tea remains one of Britain’s favourite beverages despite its apparent decline, with an estimated 165 million cups drunk every day.
