How Can the Tea Industry Respond to Some of the Top Global Beverage Trends for 2023?

 

“Selective spending,” “mindful drinking,” “mood boosting beverages” and “retail re-imagined” are some of the major trends the beverage industry should be getting ready for in 2023, according to Finlays, a leading B2B tea, coffee and botanical solutions provider.

As part of its annual Global Beverage Trends Report, Finlays outlined five key trends, which it believes will shape natural beverages and products over the next year and beyond.

Sian Edwards, Finlays’ group insights manager, said, “The events of the last 12 months feel just as seismic as the previous 12, with continued volatility in global economics, supply chains and politics continuing to cause major changes in how consumers purchase beverage products.”

Despite these challenges, Edwards believes that the outlook for the industry is positive.

“Globally, consumers are seeking to make good choices for the planet, and for themselves,” Edwards said. “While we expect to see belts tightening, we’re also already seeing the return of the beverage as an ‘affordable indulgence,’ creating opportunities for innovation and value creation. Consumers’ continued interest in healthy and sustainable beverages is also an important opportunity for brand owners.”

World Tea News spoke with Edwards to get insights on each of the key 2023 beverage trends from the report, along with insights on how tea fits in and how the tea industry can respond in the New Year.

(Image: Courtesy of Finlays)

1. Selective Spending

Following the boom in “revenge spending,” which saw people splurge as lockdowns eased, consumers are now facing a raft of financial challenges, per the Finlays report. Spending caution will therefore be a major trend in 2023 (and beyond), but Finlays expects to see a focus on “affordable luxury” as consumers seek cost effective ways to keep their spirits up. Beverage brand owners who can offer consumers a gloom-busting taste of affordable indulgence luxury will be in an advantageous position.

In terms of advice for the tea industry, Edwards noted, “There is an immediate need for tea brands and suppliers to balance the cost-of-living crisis with the consumer desire for affordable indulgence. Fortunately for companies in our industry, tea is a highly inelastic product and critically important to many people’s daily routines. Additionally, when consumers look to cut down on foodservice spend, the role of hot drinks at home grows increasingly important as a cheaper alternative. So, look for ways to grow and innovate, particularly within the retail channel, offering consumers an inexpensive way to treat themselves, and experiment with formats and flavors.”

2. Mindful Drinking

Millennials and Gen Z are drinking alcohol less and more mindfully than previous generations. They’re also much more receptive to new beverage concepts, spurring the development of new niche and hybrid categories, as explained in the Finalys report. As a result, the beverage industry has been highly responsive to changing consumer behavior, with innovations spanning the alcohol alternative, low alcohol and RTD alcohol categories, as brand owners look to capture share in this fast-growing market segment.

For the tea industry, this trend is a real opportunity for tea brands and suppliers, with high growth of “hard” iced teas and alcohol alternatives using botanicals, according to Edwards. “Look for ways to develop low/no alcoholic drinks with more sophisticated ‘adult’ flavor profiles, and investigate the role of tea in botanical-led non-alcoholic spirits,” said Edwards. “Longer term, we are expecting to see growth in ‘functional’ beverages as an alcohol alternative, which tea is well-placed to capitalize on, as 57 percent of consumers believe green tea has a positive impact on their health [per GlobalData plc, 2022].”

3. Mood Boosting Beverages

“Permacrisis” was named the word of the year for good reason. After the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with financial pressure mounting, consumers are increasingly looking to ease stress with products that support mental wellbeing, as identified in the new report. These range from products that create a sense of treat and relaxation, to those that promise functionality. Beverages can be central to this trend – the role of hot tea infusions in moments of relaxation is prevalent in most cultures globally, while caffeinated beverages such as iced coffee are often consumed for a more active boost.

Edwards explained, “Hot tea and infusions have long been established in many cultures globally, as a comforting, mood-boosting beverage, so there is an immediate opportunity for tea brand owners and suppliers to take advantage of this trend. Look for ways to develop blends that strike an emotional chord with consumers, using traditional, accessible flavors such as biscuit-inspired brews or dessert flavors.”

(Image: Courtesy of Finlays)

4. Crunch-Time for Carbon

In 2022, many looked at the importance of traceability, and companies demonstrated tangible actions to reduce their impact on the planet – from packaging to sourcing strategies. For 2023, there will be a laser focus on carbon emissions – as Finlays noted in the report – as government legislation, consumer awareness and rising energy costs intersect to bring this trend to the fore.

“With long and often complicated supply chains to navigate, measuring, reducing and off-setting carbon within the tea industry is a longer-term challenge,” shared Edwards. “Immediate next steps for brands are to work with suppliers to put in place processes to start measuring carbon to develop trackable, tangible science-based targets [SBTI]. Gaining greater insights into supply chains and seeking transparency will set up tea brands to succeed in this space.”

5. Retail Re-Imagined

COVID hugely accelerated the uptake in online shopping, per the Finalys report, changing the way consumers purchase goods. This trend is taking shape in a number of ways including traditional ecommerce e.g. through retailers building online presence, direct to consumer models (such as brand subscriptions) and the growing area of social media shopping e.g. TikTok shop. This is a challenge for the beverage landscape, with products typically being tricky and expensive to ship, but brands are starting to adapt.

“Hot tea and infusions are well-positioned for e-commerce, as shelf-stable products with a long shelf-life and relatively lightweight ingredients and packaging, so there’s a real opportunity for brand owners to position products better in the online space, such as optimizing packaging design for online sales,” explained Edwards. “Brand owners could also investigate direct-to-consumer models such as subscriptions, highlighting the breadth and depth that camellia sinensis has to offer.”

To read the full Global Beverage Trends Report 2023, click here.

Plan to Attend or Participate in the
World Tea Conference + Expo, March 27-29, 2023

To learn about other key developments, trends, issues, hot topics and products within the global tea community, plan to attend the World Tea Conference + Expo, March 27-29, 2023 in Las Vegas, co-located with Bar & Restaurant Expo. Visit WorldTeaExpo.com.

To book your sponsorship or exhibit space at the World Tea Conference + Expo, or to enquire about advertising and sponsorship opportunities at World Tea News, contact:

Ellainy Karaboitis-Christopoulos
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Phone: +1-212-895-8493
Email: ekaraboitis@questex.com

Also, be sure to stay connected with the World Tea Conference + Expo on social media for details and insights about the event. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

SKA: Construction to begin on world's biggest telescope

 

One of the grand scientific projects of the 21st Century begins its construction phase on Monday.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be the largest radio telescope in the world when completed in 2028.

Split across South Africa and Australia, with a headquarters in the UK, the facility will address the biggest questions in astrophysics.

It will perform the most precise tests of Einstein's theories, and even search for extra-terrestrials.

Delegations from the eight countries leading the project are attending ceremonies in the remote Murchison shire in Western Australia and in the Karoo of South Africa's Northern Cape.

When the festivities are over, the bulldozers will move in.

IMAGE SOURCE,SKAO

Image caption,

The Wajarri Yamaji inaugurate the Murchison site with their ceremonial digging sticks

"This is the moment it becomes real," said Prof Phil Diamond, director general of the Square Kilometre Array Organisation.

"It's been a 30-year journey. The first 10 years were about developing the concepts and ideas. The second 10 was spent doing the technology development. And then the last decade was about detailed design, securing the sites, getting governments to agree to set up a treaty organisation (SKAO) and provide the funds to start," he told BBC News.

• UK to build 'brain' for giant radio telescope
• A $10bn machine in search of the end of darkness
• First picture of monster black hole in our galaxy

IMAGE SOURCE,SKA

Image caption,

The telescope is being built in areas already used for radio astronomy

The initial architecture of the telescope will incorporate just under 200 parabolic antennas, or "dishes", as well as 131,000 dipole antennas, which look a little like Christmas trees.

The aim is to construct an effective collecting area measuring hundreds of thousands of square metres.

This will give the SKA unparalleled sensitivity and resolution as it probes targets on the sky.

The system will operate across a frequency range from roughly 50 megahertz to, ultimately, 25 gigahertz. In wavelength terms, this is in the centimetres to metres range.

This should enable the telescope to detect very faint radio signals coming from cosmic sources billions of light-years from Earth, including those signals emitted in the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang.

One of the SKA's great quests will be to trace the full history of hydrogen, the most abundant element in the Universe.

The telescope should be able to detect hydrogen's presence even before great clouds of it collapsed to form the first stars.

IMAGE SOURCE,SARAO

Image caption,

The centre of our galaxy imaged by the Meerkat telescope, a South African pathfinder for the SKA

"The SKA is going to contribute to so many areas of astronomy," said Dr Shari Breen, the observatory's head of science operations.

"One would be these 'fast radio bursts' that have been detected. These things output the equivalent of an entire year's worth of energy from our Sun in just a fraction of a second. And we have no idea what they are. How is that possible? Hopefully the SKA will have an answer."

The telescope is being built in areas already used for radio astronomy on a smaller scale.

To expand these sites, however, has required various land agreements, with farmers in the Karoo; and with the Wajarri Yamaji, the Aboriginal title holders in the Murchison.

The Wajarri community have organised Monday's celebration to inaugurate the SKA.

IMAGE SOURCE,SKA

Image caption,

The low-frequency antennas for Australia look like Christmas trees

Various procurement contracts will be announced around the ceremonies.

These will take the total financial outlay to date to just under €500m (£430m) - out of an expected final construction budget of €2bn.

The first major milestone should come in 2024, when four dishes in Australia and six antenna stations in South Africa are made to work seamlessly together as a basic telescope. This proof-of-principle moment will then trigger the array's full roll-out.

By 2028, the SKA will have an effective collecting area of just under 500,000 square metres. But the set-up is such that it can continue growing, perhaps up to the much desired one million square metres, or one square kilometre.

One way this could happen is if more and more countries join the organisation and provide the necessary funds.

The current members are: South Africa, Australia, the UK, China, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland. These countries have ratified the treaty.

France, Spain, and most recently Germany, have got themselves on to the accession path.

Canada, India, Sweden, South Korea and Japan have indicated their intention to join at some point.

"And we're actually in the process of talking to other countries as well, to see what interest they might have in joining the observatory," said Prof Diamond.

Darjeeling tea price tumbles after India leaf-blending quarrel

 

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Prices for India’s prized Darjeeling tea have tumbled this year after buyers including Tetley-owner Tata slashed purchases over a regulatory spat about blending different leaves, with growers warning that a financial crisis is threatening the so-called “champagne” of brews. Tea from Darjeeling in north-east India commands a premium around the world for its fragrant aroma and delicate flavour. But prices have fallen 16 per cent so far this season to Rs372.54 ($4.58) a kilogramme, according to data from the Tea Board of India, a government body. The drop in prices is not the result of a sudden change in supply-and-demand, but a regulatory spat. Tata Consumer Products, typically the largest Darjeeling buyer at around 18 per cent of supply, sharply scaled back purchases this year, according to officials and growers. This came after the Tea Board last year introduced rules restricting buyers from blending ordinary teas with those such as Darjeeling from the state of West Bengal, which carries a “Geographical Indication” tag designed to protect regional produce. Buyers like Tata, the large Indian conglomerate that owns brands including Tetley and Teapigs, had previously blended Darjeeling with cheaper teas from Nepal in some of its products, those people said. The move had concerned some growers, who lobbied for tougher rules to protect Darjeeling. The Tea Board in October tweaked the regulation to once again allow blending, as long as the end-product was not marketed as Darjeeling. It was particularly eager that Tata start buying again, according to an official. Hindustan Unilever, the Indian subsidiary of the global consumer goods giant and a rival of Tata, is also a significant Darjeeling buyer. But growers fear that this year’s sharp drop in price is only accelerating the terminal decline of the industry. Production of Darjeeling has trended lower due to competition from cheaper rivals, such as Nepal, and climate change, with volatile weather hurting crops. Sujit Patra, secretary of the Indian Tea Association, said prices had fallen “far less” than the cost of production. “There’s a need to show to the world that this is the most premium tea that India produces,” said Saurav Pahari, the Tea Board’s deputy chair. “We hope that the big buyers will go back to buying Darjeeling. They set the benchmark for the price.” Tata declined to answer questions about whether it had reduced Darjeeling tea purchases, or whether it planned to start buying again. It said that Nepalese tea constituted less than 1 per cent of its total procurement for the Indian market and it did not directly import the tea. Tata said it always acted “within the guardrails of the laws of the land and any regulations governing our business”. “We continually look to improve our tea blends in line with consumer preferences across regions, brand positioning and our product development,” the company said in a statement. “We continue to remain a strong supporter of the Darjeeling tea industry.” While growers say the Darjeeling tea industry’s troubles go back decades, many trace the current crisis to 2017. Production halved after protests by the region’s Gorkha ethnic group, which has long demanded independence from West Bengal, closed tea plantations, forcing buyers to find alternatives. Among the biggest winners were producers in neighbouring Nepal, whose tea has parallels with Darjeeling’s thanks to similar climate conditions, but is cheaper to produce. Many buyers have ramped up purchases from Nepal as both production and demand for Darjeeling has fallen, with last year’s 1,800 tonne harvest down 30 per cent since 2015. Recommended The Big Read How Unilever’s tea business became a test of private equity’s conscience Sparsh Agarwal, who runs Darjeeling’s Selim Hill estate, said that many local tea gardens were struggling to survive. “We’re on the verge of bankruptcy,” he said. “In the next 15 months, if I’m not able to turn around Selim Hill we’re going to have to sell it.” Others such as Mohan Chirimar, who owns the Singtom Tea Estate, said that he expected Tata to resume purchases of Darjeeling now that the Tea Board’s rule had been overturned. But Chirimar argued that the longer-term outlook for the industry remained tricky. The “macro level issues . . . haven’t been resolved as yet and we don’t see any solutions in sight”.