Fit to a Tea

With more than one and half billion cups consumed daily around the world, tea ranks behind water as the most consumed beverage. And with the drink's healthful benefits making medical headlines, its annual U.S. sales have increased from $1.8 billion to $4.9 billion over the past decade, according to the Tea Association of the USA. Whether you offer a complimentary cup, sell it alongside complementary merchandise, include it in gift baskets, or set up a "tea bar" offering a choice of varieties, this versatile beverage offers a multitude of merchandising opportunities.

While the famed Russian Tea Room (which actually had very little to do with tea) has closed its doors for good, teashops are booming in Manhattan. A tour of a few of them reveals the wide range of cultural and cross-merchandising possibilities offered by the beverage.

Focusing on the Japanese tea ceremony, the Upper East Side's Kai (which means "gathering place") tearoom offers visitors daily green tea service. In midtown, the Korean vegetarian restaurant HanGawi holds workshops on the Korean tea ceremony and sells the Franchia line of wild teas that retail for as much as $100 for a three-ounce tin.

Crossing continents, the English tea drinking experience is epitomized by Tea & Sympathy, located in Greenwich Village. A second home to British expatriates, T&S offers authentic afternoon tea treats such as finger sandwiches, scones, cakes, jams, and clotted cream. Taking its cue from Lewis Carroll, Alice's Tea Cup on the Upper West Side features mismatched china and furniture, while Lady Mendl's Tea Salon, near Gramercy Park, is a "high-Victorian" parlor offering a five-course afternoon tea.

Meanwhile, downtown hipsters are right at home at quirky Teany, a shop co-owned by pop star Moby that features 80 varieties of tea, Belgian beers, and vegan cuisine. Nearby, the Wild Lily Tea Market serves brews such as Buddha's Finger, recommended as a "suitable drink after yoga class." Nearly all the venues also sell sales-enhancing accessories for home usage.

Even if you aren't selling tea by the cup (while most teas cost pennies per serving to make, hot or iced tea can retail for $3 or more), placing teas on your shelves can be a lucrative move. Displays with Asian, British, or Bohemian themes mixing tea varieties with candles, textiles, accessories, and other merchandise will coax your customers to linger longer, and, perhaps, purchase more.

"You can showcase tea in a gift basket or sell it shrink-wrapped in a mug," says Sharon Meehan, national sales director, specialty, for Tazo of Portland, Oregon. "It can be sold with cookies, it can be paired with a teapot for a 'tea and sympathy' gift, or it can be merchandised alongside coffee. It really fits anywhere. It really has good legs."

And because tea is so versatile, your merchandising method can be determined wholly by the tastes of your clientele. For example, Cape Food & Beverage of Atlanta markets South African red or rooibos tea, a drink growing in popularity among health-conscious consumers. Company president Clifford Hodson says that 90 percent of his clients are gift or high-end retailers. Hodson explains that retailers often use tea as a decorative item in their stores, and his most successful clients integrate the product into gift baskets or display it near their registers.

Whatever varieties you choose to offer, make sure to educate your customers about the customs and traditions surrounding tea. Donna Christy of Far Leaves Tea in Berkeley, California, feels that both passion and knowledge are essential in retailing tea. Her teashop also offers wholesale gift sets with exotic items such as tea eye pillows. (In Asia, sleeping on tea leaves is said to clear the mind.) "I still see lots of people who don't know much about tea," she says. "Through tea you can learn so much about cultures."

Sharing knowledge is important because gourmet teas are pricier than grocery store offerings. Customers are going to want a reason to spend more for their "cuppa."

"Education is everything when it comes to selling premium products," says Zhena Muzyka of Zhena's Gypsy Tea in Ojai, California.

Finally, if you're new to the tea-selling business, sample the teas you are offering. Ask tea wholesalers about their sampling programs. It's up to you to be familiar with the different flavors and types, so that your customers can learn while they're busy sipping.