As the Hospitality sector continuously innovates to reinvigorate consumer interest, the hot drinks market has simultaneously done the same.
The trend of premiumisation has taken hold in the market. In an industry where consumers bought tea by the pot, tea drinkers are looking for more indepth and luxurious flavours in the form of individual cups of high quality tea. Green teas, black tea fusions, fruit/herbal teas and ready-to-drink are amongst teas with growing varieties of popular, premium versions. Supermarkets are biggest examples of providers, selling large brands that have released higher quality tea to meet consumer demand.
Non-tea drinkers in the market also have more choice than ever. Coffee is another market that is continuously growing and changing with developing consumer interests. Being consumers of one of the largest markets in the world, coffee drinkers have also obtained further tastes for high quality, in depth flavours. Whilst not as broad as tea, coffee is slowly becoming another go-to for flavourful infusions including flavoured syrups, hazelnut and chocolate. It is not popular coffee brands alone that have stepped up to meet the demand for higher quality, luxury coffees but large retail chains too. For every cheaper value-brand, there is now at least one high quality version of the caffeinated concoction.
For consumers looking for fruitier alternatives, smoothies are a great choice. Whilst these may not be an ideal choice for those who love a hot or caffeine-enriched beverage, smoothies hit a very large chunk of potential customers in the rapidly growing health market.
If we could give any advice on how to adapt to the current market, it would be in regard to the fact that trends towards tea and infusions are constantly changing. New flavours, combinations and even new types of packaging are always being developed in order to capitalise on consumer curiosity of higher quality teas.
Research into the market must be conducted frequently in order for tea and infusion sales to meet their highest revenue potential. Focus groups for example are fantastic ways to get personal opinions on what flavours and blends are drawing customer’s interests, as well as learning what products they would like to see from the market in the future. Intense market research methods are effective to see if what you’re providing is meeting the needs of changing consumer demands.
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