World Tea Expo 2025

Authentic brands deliver on their promise of a fine product and a rewarding taste experience in sincere and engaging ways. Successful tea brands are clear and consistent about what they stand for but never entrenched. The best remain culturally relevant to their target market by continuing to evolve.

Takeaways

• Tea’s diverse culture is simultaneously its greatest strength and the most formidable obstacle facing industrial-age commodity tea brands out of sync with consumer preferences.
• Despite the efficiencies of scale and marketing and 150 years of competition, small brands have shown remarkable resilience, still controlling 90% of the global market. Their success is a testament to their adaptability and understanding of changing consumer preferences.
• How we shop for tea has changed. E-commerce accelerated during the pandemic, driving record sales of packaged foods and at-home consumption. Distribution expanded, with global, national, and regional brands now selling directly to consumers, utilizing last-mile delivery managed by efficient service providers.