In the tea market, there is a decline in demand for a drink, the summer season is approaching, which means that the demand will move towards soft drinks. The current trends in the industry do not give positive predictions for tea producers to increase demand and sales. Is there a way out in modern conditions to keep the profitability of the tea business?

Growing sales of tea under own brands

Due to the decrease in the paying capacity of the population, quality tea is less popular among consumers. The price of tea is constantly growing. The reason is that the cost of tea raw materials imported from China, Sri Lanka, and India is increasing. Recently, weather conditions lead to an insufficient volume of harvest, as a result of which the cost of raw materials increases, plus the instability of the currency exchange rate. Trading networks are not ready to raise prices for tea products they took a tough stance right up to the termination of contracts. But almost every trading network is ready to offer the buyer its own brand at an attractive price, and even in the range. Consumption of such tea is growing, but the assortment of tea products of other producers is gradually being reduced by retailers so that the most expensive varieties remain and so that buyers do not hesitate to make their choice due to their wallets.

"Fast" tea is in the trend

If earlier in the fashion was a rich strong black tea in placer, which every mistress carefully brewed in a teapot, and the whole family enjoyed the tea. Today, in view of employment, there is simply no time for a long brew. Best of all is f tea bag, filled with boiling water and ready. Less and less often tea is bought in bulk, in some shops, there is practically no such tea. Following this trend, tea growers began to move in this direction.

Preferences for types of tea are so far stable

Despite the tendencies towards novelty, among consumers preferences for tea types are still less stable.

As you can see, while the demand for traditional black strong tea remains, although the desire for a healthy lifestyle today actively stimulates consumption of green tea.

Composition teas are more relevant than ever

The problem with the scarcity of quality raw materials and the rise in price, work towards expanding the range and increasing sales, as well as the desire of the population to use more useful products, has led tea producers to produce composite teas (mixed).

Increasingly, there is a mixture of rich black and healthy green tea. Packaged tea compositions have a fundamental difference - this is a complete transition of the extractive nutrients of green tea into liquid. The patented technical solution allows preserving the biological effectiveness of all medicinal components of the tea plant. Compositions of tea species have really improved quality indicators and consumer characteristics, corresponding to modern scientific research and trends in the food market.

Striving for a new way out of the crisis

An effective way to increase demand can be the introduction of a fundamentally new product to the market. Because manufacturers are racking their brains in this direction: innovative packaging, special types, and materials for sachets and pyramids, changing the composition of tea and combining tastes.

As the experts note, it is young people who are actively reacting to the emergence of new products. Especially appreciated are not just teas in bright and convenient packages, super-innovative bags, or with unusual combinations of tastes, important today is also the value of the product in terms of health. Increasingly, a choice is made in the direction of functionality - the benefits for the organism of a particular product. Therefore, medicinal herbs with biologically active properties are increasingly included in the composition.

New opportunities for increasing tea sales

Stagnation of sales in the tea category in the retail network remains stable, despite the holding of promo-actions, as the main incentives for the buyer. However, the discount is not always the right decision and does not bring the expected increase in sales. It is important to correctly position the joint work of retailers and suppliers. Why not offer to the buyer a bonus instead of discounts: together with a pack of tea to offer a chocolate bar as a pleasant addition or a nice mug for family tea drinking.

It should also be taken into account that the consumer is little aware of the varieties of tea and their effect on the body, the appearance of such information on packages or in promotional materials can warm the consumer's interest to try a new one.

Increase sales in the crisis can be

Let so much now is spoken about the stagnation of sales in the tea market, about problems with expensive raw materials, about the fall in demand. If you study the main trends in the industry today, you can not only keep your place in the market, but it's a good idea to heal by increasing sales of products.

And here's what must be taken into account:

• The buyer cannot yet clearly differentiate the tea product in quality and often has no attachment to the brand, therefore, first of all draws attention to the cost; however, to focus only on the discount and not worth it, it may be worthwhile to develop a long-term strategy together with the retailer to create incentives for increasing sales;

• Despite the relative stability of preferences towards traditional types of tea, one should consider the possibility of increasing sales through the expansion of the range, innovations, both in the appearance of the product and in its quality and taste characteristics;

• Choice of the population of cheaper items makes tea manufacturers think about exactly such cooperation with the sales network as a last resort, it is better to produce a brand for the retailer than to disappear altogether from the shelves;

• The future is for compositional teas and not simply as a mixture of several species, but also this composition should be biologically active and beneficial to health.

Despite the difficult economic conditions in the world, the forecasts in the tea industry are still positive. Tea is a traditional drink for 75% of the population, because, no matter how expensive the product is, it will still be bought, there will not be a strong drop in demand in the category.