In light of the current lockdown restrictions, teapigs has decided to present its retailer tea school virtually, via Zoom.
Stockists will be able to access the free training that teapigs normally provides in person through a live 90-minute session on the video communications platform, and will even send along tea for tasting.
Hosted by teapigs’ tea trainers Andy Byron and Leonie Gregorians, the sessions will cover topics including tea types, production, how to serve the perfect cuppa, tasting, recipes, how best to display your teas and making the most of social media.
“We’re sure you have barista training so your coffee is on point and we think you should do the same for tea,” says teapigs co-founder Louise Cheadle. “Tea school has always been a fab way to get some useful tips and guidance on how to boost tea sales and to give you a real point of difference. With many stockists looking to the future and planning how to offer a strong drinks menu and well trained staff when they reopen, these online sessions are a great way to hit the ground running. We’ll even send you all the tea to join in – the only thing you need to bring is your favourite biscuits!”
With many stockists looking to the future and planning how to offer a strong drinks menu and well trained staff when they reopen, these online sessions are a great way to hit the ground running
The crisis may have prompted these online sessions to become a permanent part of teapigs’ educational programme. “These Zoom sessions have been on my list of things to do for a long time as part of my distance learning and support programme,” says Byron, “and I can imagine that we’ll run them alongside our live sessions to make sure people who can’t make the journey to south London don’t miss out on being tea geeks and getting their staff fully trained.”
He adds: “We did some live videos on Instagram which worked so well we are now running ticketed events for consumers and free schools for stockists. All proceeds from the consumer ticket sales are going towards our ethical scheme so I’m hoping we can raise over £1000 next month which will help the communities in Rwanda from where we source our breakfast tea.”
The first tea school will take place on Tuesday 26 May at 6pm with more dates to be added. Stockists can contact [email protected] or call 0208 568 1322 for more information on the online training.
