Functionality is the buzzword in the hot drinks sector as more of us turn to self-care in a mug, writes Jim Manson
Herbal tea is having quite a moment. While the category has been steadily going mainstream for years, it’s been super-charged by the pandemic. Everyday brands such Tetley and PG Tips now have their own herbal tea line-up bristling with immune, multivitamin and detox-focused products, and NPD in the category is at an all-time high.
The buzzword among hot drinks industry analysts is ‘functionality’ and there is general agreement that we are witnessing a functional tea revolution. But what does this all mean for the specialist herbal tea brands and natural pro-ducts retailers who started the revolution?
With many specialist brands performing strongly, the evidence suggests that a bigger total audience for health- and wellness-positioned teas actually represents a significant opportunity for health-forward brands and retailers, especially those offering compelling innovation and differentiation – and a depth of range that the supermarkets just can’t compete with. Specialist brands also deliver on a range of additional values and attributes – organic, fairly traded, premium quality and so on – compared to the ‘mono-positioning’ of mass channel brands.
Proactive self-care
Kiran Tawadey is the founder of organic and biodynamic tea specialist Hampstead Tea. She says that emerging new consumer priorities around health have prompted the company to explore the opportunities of more health-focused messaging, particularly where its new Wellness range is concerned. “We’ve talked about origin a lot over the years, about biodynamic farming and our producer partners. But we’ve never really recounted to customers the multiple benefits of the product. In a way, we felt they should probably make their own decisions about those things.
“We’re confident that the wellness benefits we have focused on in the new range meet a real demand for proactive self-care in a product that doesn’t damage the planet. We’ve really tried to do something different to other brands. So, for example, if you take our Sleep Well product, it’s formulated around our single-estate rooibos, and blended with chamomile and vanilla to create a warming, luxurious cup of tea. Often sleep teas focus on valerian root and tend to be a bit thin tasting.”
How does Tawadey describe Hampstead’s positioning in an increasingly crowded specialist tea sector? “We’re all about premium quality, delicious tea at a great price point – but also products that are regenerative in every respect.” She is well aware of the buzz – and hype – around all things regenerative. “Yes, there is a tendency in some quarters to use the term regenerative to describe almost anything considered ‘green’. But overall it’s a really useful concept. In a way it also helps us explain biodynamic in a more meaningful and accessible way. If you tell people that biodynamics is the highest standard of organic, they instantly understand that it is the standard for regenerative agriculture. They suddenly get it.”
Keith Garden at Only Natural Products (owner of the Higher Living and Dr Stuart’s brands), agrees that the health proposition of herbal tea is increasingly influencing NPD in the sector. “Functionality is one of the four main growth drivers for us, alongside organic, sustainability and provenance. We’re seeing huge growth in products such as Dr Stuart’s Valerian Plus tea. But, of course, it clearly has always been a functional brand and this year it’s celebrating 30 years of innovation, begun by Dr Malcolm Stuart.”
Retailer insights
Vicky Perks, owner of Cardiff-based retailer Beanfreaks (with three stores in the city), says sleep and relaxation teas have been stand-out sellers. “Coming out of the pandemic and adjusting to a new normal of working practices, and people’s generally higher levels of anxiety, means there’s a big demand for ‘a little cup of calm.”
Perks believes organic and fair trade should virtually be a given when it comes to the specialist trade. “For me it’s vital; it’s our uniqueness. Everywhere now sells a herbal tea – but not organic and fair trade – and really it’s the beating heart of the green movement.”
Away from teas, Perks singles out medicinal mushrooms as a still growing market. “Mushroom coffee, lion’s mane matcha [and] reishi cocoa all do well. We sell lots of individual sachets placed at till points – a great add-on sale with a comfortable price point. Lion’s mane and neurotrophic herbs are still big with my student clients looking for a brain boost!
“Favourite products and brands? Mushrooms 4 Life is a lovely company and selling well. We love their Lion’s Mane Matcha Latte. For teas, teapigs for their fabulous packaging, Yogi for gorgeous blends, Heath & Heather (which I remember from the beginning and have some lovely varieties) and Clipper as our core ethical range. Oh, I shouldn’t forget to mention Celestial Seasonings. I’m a great believer in the 50:50 box-versus-ingredients rule – in some cases, and this may be one, the pretty box wins!”
The new waste watchers
When it comes to coffee, the clearest single trend is ethics. According to global consumer analyst Mintel, a remarkable 48% of all new coffee product launches in 2021 carried an ethical or environmental claim.
Jonny Forsyth, associate director, Mintel Food & Drink, describes sustainability as ‘undoubtedly the defining issue for the coffee industry over the next 20 years’. He adds: ‘The more activist-minded younger generation will show less tolerance for waste, especially pods that are recyclable but rarely recycled, with launches of ‘greener pods expected to grow fast.”
Step forward the Odd Coffee Company, which ‘rescues’ surplus coffee pods and tonnes of freshly roasted beans and ground coffee that are rejected by premium roasters due to minor imperfections that have no bearing on taste. The company then repackages the rejected and surplus coffee in fully recyclable packaging so customers can enjoy sustainably sourced, quality roasted beans or pods at ‘a fraction’ of the normal price.
Ethically sourced subscription coffee specialist Piqant recently teamed with plant delivery company Patch Plants to develop its new home compostable coffee pods. The ‘plant doctors’ at Patch were able to show that Piqant’s coffee pods not only composted efficiently when placed straight into a plant pot, but also that the used coffee grounds increased soil fertility.
Tea for 22: this year’s top tea trends
Feel the functionality: the big buzzword in the mainstream tea world is ‘functional’. That might not come as a surprise to the health trade where health-forward herbal tea blends have long been a staple offer, but it potentially opens up a up a much bigger consumer market for the category.
Getting younger: tea drinking, especially when it comes to black tea and traditional blends – is generally associated with an older demographic. But research suggests tea drinkers are getting younger as a new generation taps into a culture of health, beauty and wellbeing.
Rooibos rising: rooibos has been a reliable, if slightly niche, health food staple for decades – mainly with an audience seeking out a caffeine-free alternative to black tea. But with several brands now offering rooibos teas balanced with vanilla, caramel and cinnamon, or perked up with peppermint, consumers are now coming for the flavour too.
Loosen up: tea aficionados know that the very best tasting tea of any type is made with loose leaves. A trend towards this format, begun in lockdown, seems to have taken hold as serious tea lovers realize that they are getting premium taste and excellent value when they take the loose-leaf route. “We started offering our loose teas in 1kg bags as a bit of an experiment, and they regularly sell out,” says Hampstead Tea’s Kiran Tawadey.
Hot drinks: the latest science
We intuitively think that hot drinks are good for us. But what does the science tell us?
Warming and cooling
The University of Ottawa’s Thermal Ergonomics Laboratory has been able to show the exact mechanism by which drinking hot drinks in hot weather cools you down. When a hot liquid reaches thermosensors in the oesophagus and stomach these react as though the entire body is as hot as the drink, and you start to sweat – which, as it evaporates, leads to cooling.
Mood modifying
When cold and cough sufferers were given hot and cold juice drinks by the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University those in the hot drinks group saw ‘immediate and sustained’ symptomatic relief. But when the Cardiff team measured nasal airflow they found it unchanged. Mood modification, the team explained, was the key to feeling better in this case, since ‘symptoms are what we feel, and what we feel can be influenced by our mood and our expectations’.
Hot drink, warmer personality
Cradling a hot drink doesn’t just make you feel better, it alters other people’s perception of you too, according to a study by the University of Colorado. Hot drink imbibers were considered to have warmer personalities than those consuming cold drinks, which the researchers say is to do with deep psychological programming going back to our pre-natal experiences.
Mug up
If you’ve ever borrowed someone’s ‘special mug’ at work you’ll know just how emotionally attached someone can be to an unassuming drinking vessel. Betina Piqueras-Fiszman from Wageningen University says that people ‘conceptualize their internal mental worlds by analogy to the physical world’. To translate: the right degree of chunkiness, weight, feel and colour lends a particular mug its very personal appeal.
Of The Earth Superfoods Organic Hot Chocolate Range
Alara Wholefoods
Tel: 020 7255 9725
E-mail: [email protected]
www.alara.co.uk
Summer has come and gone and those humid days have been replaced with biting nights. Snuggle down and warm up with Of The Earth Superfoods Hot Chocolate, available in four different flavours: Original, Chilli, Maca and Turmeric. Packed choc(k)-full with nutrients, flavonoids and antioxidants, all of our hot chocolates are made with Peruvian cacao powder and banana flakes, meaning it not only makes a deliciously smooth and creamy hot drink, but is sugar free too! Simply stir 1-2 tablespoons into a mug of warm milk of your choice for an indulgent warm treat. RRP £5.99 for 180g.
Bare Cacao
E-mail: [email protected]
www.barecacao.co.uk
Social @Bare_cacao
Made from 100% cacao, a great source of antioxidants and essential minerals, Bare cacao is roasted and ground to be easily prepared in a French press. Zero sugar, zero caffeine, suitable for diabetics and tastes amazing!
Our ethos: We encourage you to create your own ritual in the day, to take time out, to calm the mind and focus your intentions.
We are passionate about our cacao and ensure we only use the finest cacao beans from ethical sources. We offer low minimum orders and supply both retail and wholesale customers, please contact Aaron for more information. 
Barleycup
Healthy Food Brands
Tel: 01403 786460
E-mail: [email protected]
www.healthysales.co.uk
Full of flavour, Barleycup drinks are the natural choice for those who like tea and coffee but are trying to cut down on caffeine in their diet. Made only from wholesome roasted barley, rye and chicory roots, Barleycup is free-from caffeine and contains no artificial additives. Vegan, low calorie, and a source of fibre. Enjoy on its own or with dairy, plant, or rice milk as part of a healthy balanced diet. A drink for the whole family to enjoy this winter!
Locako Coffee Creamer
Kinetic Natural Products Distributor
Tel: 08450 725 825
E-mail: [email protected]
www.kinetic4health.co.uk
New to the UK market – Locako Coffee Creamer from Australia’s #1 low carb and keto brand! Collagen enriched, coconut milk based and absolutely delicious coffee creamer is the perfect addition to hot drinks and smoothies for a smooth frothy texture and superior flavour. With unflavoured “Natural” offering along with proven popular flavour options Vanilla and Cookies & Cream, these formulas feature hero ingredients of collagen and MCT, clean ingredients with no sucralose, vegetable oils, fillers, and pre- and pro- biotic ingredients. On-pack call outs known to drive sales including Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Ultra Low-carb, Keto, Prebiotic and Probiotic.
Planet Paleo Collagen Hotties
Living Planet Distribution
Tel: 020 3176 9982
E-mail: [email protected]
www.livingplanetdistribution.com
Planet Paleo’s Hotties are a satisfying twist on latte favourites that customers will want to cosy up to. The collection features four classic latte and coffee favourites such as Keto Coffee, Matcha Latte, Turmeric Latte and Cacao Magic, made with grass-fed certified collagen peptides and antioxidant-rich ingredients such as matcha green tea, turmeric, and raw cacao. The Hotties are high in collagen protein that’s great for supporting skin, hair, nails, joint and gut health, and are free from dairy, sugar, and additives, providing a clean alternative to conventional latte mixes. The Hotties range is moving to 100% plastic free, home compostable pouches.
Mushrooms 4 Life Organic Latte powders
Living Planet Distribution
Tel: 020 3176 9982
E-mail: [email protected]
www.livingplanetdistribution.com
Mushrooms 4 Life’s Latte range offers all the benefits of medicinal mushrooms in tasty latte mixes available in jars or sachets. There are five different varieties with a therapeutic serving of medicinal mushrooms in every cup, including reishi, cordyceps, chaga, maitake and lion’s mane. They are boosted by powerful organic superfoods such as beetroot, turmeric, ginger, cacao or matcha, making them an excellent choice for study, work, exercise, and all-round defence. Featuring organic coconut milk, these lattes are easy to use and vegan, with all-natural ingredients. The range also includes two jitter-free coffee mixes with reishi or cordyceps.
Turmeric & Cinnamon Tea by NutraTea
NutraTea
Tel: 020 3146 7150
E-mail: [email protected]
www.nutratea.co.uk
NutraTea Turmeric & Cinnamon is 1 of 22 herbal blends in the range that has been formulated to help maintain the health of the liver, upper respiratory tract and heart. This timeless herbal blend contains entirely natural, sustainably sourced ingredients with no added flavourings, oils or excipients enabling each biodegradable tea bag to be reused throughout the day. Containing 50% Turmeric to help manage inflammatory responses and protect joints and 50% Cinnamon to help maintain a healthy blood sugar level, this unique herbal blend produces an aromatic yet sweet cup of tea.
Pukka Winter Warmer
Pukka Herbs
Tel: 08459 640 944
E-mail: [email protected]
www.pukkaherbs.com
Herbal wellbeing company, Pukka Herbs, announces the launch of Winter Warmer – a 100% organic, seasonal blend of the finest festive flavours to feel comfort and joy through the winter season. Winter Warmer is a magical combination of organic, fairly sourced, highest-quality herbs for a deliciously warming and uplifting flavour to create a winter months. It has been specifically formulated as caffeine-free for worry-free consumption in the evenings. Winter Warmer is a limited-edition tea and will be available from September 2022 to March 2023.
