Here's Everything You Need To Know

Author: Hou

Mar. 07, 2024

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Tags: Packaging & Printing

Tea packaging can be innovative as it blends your brand image. Engrossing tea packaging design sets your products apart, suggesting to buyers that they can expect to experience something unique when they purchase your tea.

Most customers know that tea packaging materials play a vital role in keeping the tea quality intact. There are various kinds of tea packaging materials available in the market. Some of the most familiar materials include tinplate, biodegradable PLA, filter paper, aluminum, and plastic. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Different Types Of Tea Packaging

Tea lends itself well to custom packaging. It is dry, lightweight, and can easily conform to different shapes and types of containers. Let us discuss each tea packaging style with advantages and disadvantages in detail below.

These are the Top 5 popular options for tea packaging 1. Aluminum Boxes 2. Plastic Pouches Or Cartons 3. The Kraft Pouch 4. Loose Tin Packs 5. Paper Pouches

1. Aluminum Boxes

Aluminum is a famous substance for tea packaging. It provides decent protection against moisture, oxygen, and light.

Cartons made of aluminum come in a combination of sizes and shapes. The company uses polyethylene film to retain freshness and aroma in them.

Due to this, it becomes a conductive metal and can influence the flavor of the tea if it comes into immediate contact with the leaves.

Despite these shortcomings, aluminum remains a prominent option for tea packaging due to its many advantages. When choosing an aluminum carton for your tea, make sure to pick one that is strong and has a proper seal to preserve the freshness of the leaves.

2. Plastic Pouches Or Cartons

Plastic pouches or cartons are the other generally used material for packaging. All thanks to their less cost and stability. Yet, plastic is non-biodegradable and can take centuries to degrade, creating it an active participant in environmental pollution.

Some companies have begun using biodegradable substances for tea packagings, such as paper, bamboo, or paper. Others switch to refillable or reusable containers.

3. The Kraft Pouch

A most promising alternative to the regular plastic pouch is the Kraft pouch. It is made of organic paper and keeps the tea fresh and efficiently aromatic.

Tea packaging box comes with a press lock and metalized layer stronger than other materials. Moreover, it has an oxygen absorber for sensitive herbs and protects against air, moisture, and germs.

For branding, you can put customized stickers on the pouch. Stickers can be PVC, Matt laminated, or glass laminated. You can also receive stickers on one side or screen printing on the other side. Instead of this, you can have printing on both sides.

After adding all this, one pack of Kraft pouches comes at a very reasonable price, which ranges from Rs. 35 to 50 per pack.

4. Loose Tin Packs

Airtight tin packs are also a good choice for packaging tea. The company makes these packs using a steel sheet with a coating of a thin layer of tin.

Tin packs are commonly used for yea packaging as they are non-toxic and have immunity against moisture and oxygen. Thus, making it ideal for keeping loose-leaf tea and pyramid tea bags.

Additionally, oxygen absorber tablets are placed in the packs to keep the shelf life higher. To prepare the tea tin, you can have a good printing effect customized to your choice. It can be full-body or half-body digitally laminated stickers.

5. Paper Pouches

You can get tea packaging in paper pouches. Such pouches are available in several colors and have a square core, which enables them to stay properly on the kitchen shelves.

Paper tea packaging is created from recycled substances and is biodegradable. It conserves the freshness and excellence of tea. While also giving a sustainable choice for tea lovers.

Yet, there is no proper protection, such as an airtight seal and the products have little shelf life.

Which Tea Packaging Is Better?

When you pack your tea, you must ensure that the selected material will preserve your tea leaves from oxygen, moisture, and light.

When tea leaves get exposed to too much moisture, they will become soggy and lose their taste.

Second, the selected material must keep oxygen out. Oxygen can cause oxidation in the tea leaves. That will make them forfeit their aroma.

Finally, select a material that will retain the tea leaves from light. It can prompt the fading of leaves. Thus the natural aroma of tea gets lost.

While selecting a packaging material for your tea, it is essential to assess all these factors. Also, your tea packaging must look delightful so that your clients will feel etched when they see it on the kitchen racks.

Basis Kraft Pouches Tin Boxes Type Elegant multi-layer stands pouches with a metalized layer Airtight tin of premium quality Quantity Come in 100g, 50g, or 75g packs Come in 75g, 50g, or 100g pouches Protection No shrink wrapping Shrinkwrapping along with master packaging option Pricing Rs. 35 per pack Rs. 75 per pack Suitability Suitable for sensitive herbs Suitable for premium teas Customization Laminated digitally printed stickers on the front and back Laminated digitally printed stickers (half-body or full-body)

How To Store Tea To Keep It Fresh?

Tea is sensitive to air, light, moisture, and heat. The tea quality will reduce when it is exposed to any of these factors, even for a short time.

It is essential to keep it correctly to protect the natural aroma and flavor of the tea. The most helpful way to keep your tea fresh is the use a storage container that is opaque and airtight.

Tea tins and kraft pouches are excellent ways to store tea. They are specially for keeping out air, moisture, and light, and both promise to keep tea fresh for up to 18 months.

What Does a Tea Packaging Company Expect From Its Client?

Following are the conditions each tea packaging expects from its client:

  • You require to have an FSSAI license for marketing and sales. It is also reasonable to obtain a packaging license.
  • Our company name and FSSAI license would not appear as Manufacturer.
  • Your company name and FSSAI license would not appear as a Brand owner.
  • The client will provide all artwork in JPG or CDR format. Make sure you comply with FSSAI packaging rules.
  • MRP, packaging date, and Batch number to be printed or stamped. The client can decide the MRP of the product.
  • Avoid openness to heat, air, moisture, and odor while in storage. If possible, you can install dehumidifiers.

How Do We Make Tea Transportation For Export Easy?

The company provides export packaging in bulk quantities. Before the transportation of tea, the company does three-layer master packaging to avoid any damage.

First, the company places tea into boxes or pouches. Then they provide a corrugated sheet around each tin.

Next, in a mini carton, the worker puts in tin packs. It provides double protection to the tea.

For the third layer of protection, in a master carton, eight mini cartons are jointly set. This type of packaging with customized stickers can cost up to Rs. 75/ pack.

What Role Does A Tea Packaging Play In A Marketing Of A Product?

Here are four essential functions that tea packaging plays in the marketing of a product:

1. Protection

The primary purpose of packaging is to retain its contents from any loss that could occur during transport and storage. Packaging keeps the product untouched throughout its logistics chain from factory to end user. It safeguards the product from heat and other harmful factors.

2. Provides All Specific Details

Packaging should include essential information about the product and its safety. For instance, the best-before date, packing date, and ingredients list must be visible on the packages.

No toxicity, taste, or smell should transmit from the packaging to the food, whether it is a creation from recycled material. Also, it must become evident from the packaging if it includes harmful materials. All these portions of data enhance the safety virtue for the buyer.

3. Appeals To Customers

Packaging marks a significant part of the product brand and marketing. Unique packaging can enhance the buyer’s willingness to buy the product.

Approximately two-thirds of people confirm that the packaging impacts their buying decisions.

Packaging can also express a real story about the firm behind the product and the product’s social, environmental, and economic effects. It is a device to convey the firm’s values and the unique benefits the product offers to the buyer.

4. Fits-all-purpose

Buyers are looking for fit-for-purpose packaging designs. They desire usable, life-saver packaging that is user-friendly. Packaging, which is easy to open and close, easy to fold and sort after use, and can be reusable or recyclable, will satisfy all of the buyers’ requirements.

In addition to this, the optimal design improves usability. Nowadays craze in packaging usage has been seen to shift suggestions from single-use to buying products in bulk, in reusable packs and containers.

5. Sustainability

More and more buyers are paying attention to the carbon footprint, packaging substances, reusability, and recyclability before buying. The more sustainable packaging is, the more favorable impact it has on the sales amounts.

The packaging structure has an essential function in specifying how simple it is to segregate the elements from each other and how able the packaging is to recycle.

Nowadays, consumers are increasingly informed of the environmental results of their policies. They assess the carbon footprint of the packaging before paying for a product. The label on the packaging provides a clear picture of the product. The right packing environmental impacts will capture the consumer’s eye honestly.

How Is Tea Packaging Done?

Tea packing is primarily done through machines that measure and divide the exact quantity of leaves in the pouch.

Rather than doing the chore of filling containers and pouches, put blended tea in a hopper that will serve it within seconds. Containers or bags are then packed in big cartons.

As for small-sized tea bags, a particular machine is consumed for filling the bags. It will inject thousands of tea bags in minutes. A tea bag contains 2 grams of loose tea leaves, which are suitable for putting together a cup. These tea bags are then packed into wrappers or cardboard boxes.

How Is Gift Packaging Done?

Gift packaging can be of three types-

1. Wooden

2. Corrugated boxes

3. MDF

Most clients boxes prefer corrugated boxes, which are cardboard products. Another type of MDF is also a popular choice for most buyers. They look like wooden ply boxes but are lighter than wood. Instead of these, you can also opt for glass packaging.

If we make a comparison of pricing, cardboard, tin, and glass packaging is costly. However, Kraft pouches are the most affordable of all.

If you are curious to learn more, we recommend that you get in touch with Teafloor today!

I’m a Blogger, always ready to explore new things. Starting from Technology to Seo, webiners etc. Driving more and more traffic to our website is my passion.

Tea Packaging

Packaging is a critical component of marketing tea, for whichever tea market segment a brand targets.

Well-crafted packaging is equally important to those targeting the mass market, as it is to those targeting the specialty tea market. In each case, packaging decisions provide an opportunity for tea companies to position their company, reflect their branding, and resonate with their target market.

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Brick Tea And Compressed Tea

China created the technology to create brick tea, or teacakes, to facilitate tea exports to foreign markets (e.g., Russia), and trade with neighbouring frontier states (e.g., Tibet). During the Tang dynasty (618–907), brick tea grew in popularity.

Regional pockets within central Asia still prepare brick tea: Mongolia, Tibet, and parts of China still consume high quantities of brick tea. Today, the existing production facilities for brick tea are based in the Chinese provinces of Hunan and Yunnan.

In 2020 China produced 2.97 million metric tons of brick tea, of which 90% (2.1 million metric tons) was consumed in the domestic market.

Today brick tea plays a relatively insignificant role in world trade. Compare China's 2020 production of brick tea, 404,300 metric tons, with its total tea production of 2.74 million metric tons. However, while the role of brick tea in world trade may be comparatively insignificant, its role in the specialty tea market remains meaningful.

Pu-erh tea is most often sold in brick form; raw pu-erh (Sheng) and ripe pu-erh (Shu) are sold as compressed tea, moulded into various forms. Green, white, and black tea can also be packaged as compressed tea, although these teas are less commonly packaged as such.

Teacakes are the most common form of compressed tea sold in Western and European markets; they are common in China too. The packaging of teacakes has four key elements:

  1. The wrapper

  2. The ticket (Nèi fēi)

  3. The description sheet (Nèi piào)

  4. The teacake (Bĭng)

The tea wrapper is typically made from cotton paper or thin cotton cloth. In China, the tea wrapper customarily shows the tea company or factory responsible for manufacturing the teacake, as well as the year of production. It is also customary for Chinese teacake wrappers to show the region or mountain of harvest, the plant type, and the recipe number.

In North American and European markets, where teacakes are less common, brands typically use the wrapper to display artwork, which usually reflects the product's name. Brands like Mei Leaf and White2Tea, distinguish themselves in the tea market with their teacake packaging.

Teacakes also come with a small ticket (Nèi fēi) that’s embedded into the teacake; it usually indicates the tea factory and brand. The small embedded ticket is a step to signal the authenticity of the tea to consumers. Premium pu-erh cakes may have multiple tickets embedded.

Teacakes also come with a description sheet (Nèi piào) packaged loose under the wrapper. These description sheets serve two purposes. First, it assures consumers of product authenticity (e.g., it often reflects the factory and brand). The description sheet also acts as marketing collateral. It may use brand storytelling techniques (e.g., highlight the tea factories' history), communicate the tea's value proposition (e.g., taste and rarity), or alleged benefits (e.g., weight loss).

Finally, there is the teacake itself (Bĭng). Reputable tea brands use a single grade of tea leaves throughout the cake; the consumer gets what they expect and pay for.

Counterfeit And Deceptive Teacakes

Counterfeit pu-erh is common. Counterfeit practices include claiming the tea is older than it actually is, misidentifying the origin of the leaf as Yunnan instead of a non-Yunnan region, labelling terrace tea as forest tea, and selling green tea instead of raw pu-erh.

The small ticket (Nèi fēi) embedded into teacakes is important in identifying and preventing counterfeits. In China, disreputable tea vendors package inferior tea in knock-off tea wrappers, imitating the packaging of legitimate factories. These counterfeit products are sold to unsuspecting consumers at full price. One step consumers can take to mitigate the risk of exploitation is checking each cake for the small ticket before purchasing. But in some cases, even this ticket may be forged.

Some tea factories in China (e.g., the Menghai Tea Factory) are taking leading roles to protect their brand and consumers. Such factors are now microprinting and embossing their tickets to curb counterfeit teas.

Deceptive teacakes are also common. Disreputable tea brands may use two different grades of tea leaves. Such unethical tea merchants place the higher grade of leaf on the outside, and the lower grade of leaves in the centre. Such deception improves margins for retailers at the consumer's expense.

Loose Leaf Tea Packaging

The loose leaf tea market was valued at USD 78.7 billion in 2020; it represented 38% of the total global tea market, valued at 207.1 billion.

Loose leaf tea consumption is most common in Turkey, which consumes 6.96 pounds per capita of loose tea annually. Global loose leaf tea consumption has been growing year over year (YoY); a 5.17% CAGR increase occurred from 2011 to 2021.

Given the increasing demand for loose leaf tea, brands and consumers are more attentive to loose leaf tea packaging. Loose leaf tea is packaged in three ways:

Consumers are increasingly interested in sustainable tea packaging.

A segment of consumers believes purchasing loose-leaf tea allows for more sustainable packaging options. Some loose leaf tea brands cater to sustainability preferences by using biodegradable materials (e.g., cardboard) or reusable containers (e.g., metal tins). Loose leaf tea offers consumers value, as you pay for the product rather than the packaging.

Plastic Food Grade Tea Bags

Food-grade plastic tea bags are the most cost-effective option for loose leaf packaging.

The beneficial reduction in the cost of goods sold that brands experience when packaging loose tea in food-grade plastic bags, must be weighed against two potential drawbacks:

  1. Increased difficulty with premium products

  2. Potential negative sentiment for adopting single-use plastic packaging

Cardboard Containers

Cardboard containers, or paperboards, are the most popular packaging option for loose leaf tea brands.

Three factors driving the popularity of cardboard packaging include:

  1. Customer sentiment (e.g., it’s perceived as being more sustainable)

  2. Low cost

  3. Flexibility

Research shows that 67% of consumers value sustainable packaging, and 74% are willing to pay a premium for it. This willingness to pay, combined with the cost savings tea brands create, makes cardboard containers an attractive option.

Cardboard containers provide flexibility as tea companies can use them for loose leaf tea and tea sachets. This flexibility allows tea brands to adapt to product demand while keeping packaging costs fixed, controlling the cost of goods sold.

Food Grade Tea Tins

Tea tins reflect the packaging style that is more common in the specialty tea market than in the broad tea market.

Loose leaf tea tins are a popular packaging option among tea consumers and brands. Such loose leaf tea storage tins may be branded or unbranded. Branded tea tins can be product specific, or generic to the tea brand.

Product Specific Branded Tea Tin

Branded Tea Tin

Unbranded Tea Tin

 

Unbranded tins are cheaper for tea companies to purchase, and are well suited to tea brands with product lines that turn over often. Brands can create product-specific labelling by affixing labels in the form of stickers, either in retail stores at the point of purchase, or, in the case of e-commerce companies, before shipping products to consumers.

Many tea companies have made unbranded tea tins an integral part of their success. Such a packaging decision ensures complete flexibility and protects the brand from having money tied up in the packaging of discontinued teas.

Branded tins are more expensive for brands to produce; it requires sending brand assets (e.g., logo) and specifications (e.g., brand colours) to manufacturers. Manufacturers often insist on a minimum order quantity for such tins.

However, tea companies that use branded packaging can position their products as premium more easily. And, building brand recognition can cultivate familiarity in consumers, so they may be more likely to repurchase the brand. Such repeated exposure to familiar packaging may leverage the mere exposure effect, a psychological phenomenon by which people tend to prefer things that are more familiar to them than others.

Tea companies can also invest in creating tea tins that are specific to the brand and the tea product. While this packaging option may be more expensive, it’s most likely to allow brands to successfully position their products as premium. Consider how luxury brands selling tea (e.g., Fortnum and Mason, Twinings, TWG) use tea tins uniquely designed for individual products.

Twinings Loose Leaf Tea Tins

Twinings loose-leaf tea tins provide an excellent example of well-executed tea packaging. The Twinings tin is an example of the best tea packaging because it uses visual hierarchy well. The brand name is prominent, taking up a quarter of the tin front. The blend name is also prominent, taking up a quarter of the tin front, as well.

The remaining space on the front of the tin contains less prominent, supporting text. The uppermost text inspires consumer trust and respect (e.g., “By appointment to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth”). Text placed lower on the tin also inspires trust by hinting at the brand's longevity (e.g., Since 1706). Discrete text sets consumer expectations of taste (e.g., “A traditional blend of black teas creating a satisfying rich taste”). This text is well paired with visual cues indicating product strength.

Beneath the lid, an aluminium seal ensures product quality and provides evidence of a tamper-free product. The aluminium covering peels back smoothly, heightening the sense of expectation and quality.

Nylon Tea Bags

Nylon tea bags are sachets that are made of nylon mesh; they are sometimes called tea temples or tea pyramids. One of the greatest advantages of nylon tea bags over traditional tea bags is the ability to marry premiumization and convenience.

Pyramidal tea bags use the same thermodynamic brewing principles as a teapot. The leaves in the tea bag are pushed upward by pressure exerted from the bottom of the pyramid. The pyramid shape facilitates the upward flow of the leaves, which offers 50% more space for leaf movement.

Thermal escapes through the upper peak of the tea pyramid when heat transfer takes place. Designing the tea pyramid for thermodynamics increases the rate of infusion, and improves colour, aroma and flavour. During a 40 second period, a 15% increase in flavour occurs.

Nylon allows tea drinkers a premium experience. The consumer can see the quality raw ingredients (e.g., leaves, dried berries) through the translucent mesh, and they can watch the infusion take place. The nylon tea bags are typically larger than conventional tea bags; they allow room for full leaf teas to unfurl and expand.

Nylon tea bags also offer tea drinkers access to equal or greater convenience than traditional tea bags. Consider how Tea Forte uses packaging innovation to improve the tea drinkers’ experience. Instead of the conventional string, Tea Forte uses a wire. This substitution of material allows tea drinkers to bend the wire over the teacup without the risk of the teabag slipping into the hot water.

However, despite the clear advantages of nylon tea bags, there are also some potential drawbacks:

  1. Cost

  2. Environmental impact

  3. Customer concerns about microplastics

Nylon tea bags cost more. Brands pay a cost per unit between $0.03 and $0.07 for each nylon teabag. Conventional tea bags, by comparison, may cost brands between $0.20 -0.40 per unit. The increased costs brands incur using nylon tea bags are passed on to consumers; products sell at a higher price point.

Nylon is a broad category; nylon covers many different fabric types made from synthetic polymers.

Some synthetic materials are not safe when heated because they release chemicals. As nylon tea bags are exposed to boiling water, some consumers worry about chemicals and nylon teabags microplastics leaching into tea.

Consumer concern for microplastics in tea peaked in September 2019, with the topic experiencing peak popularity (100 search interest) from September 22 to 28th, 2019.

Nylon has high heat resistance, higher than the temperature associated with boiling water. However, ambiguity exists because the safety of nylon tea bags has undergone little testing, so verification of safety isn’t possible.

Some consumers focus on the environmental impact of nylon tea bags, specifically on nylons’ inability to decompose. Nylon has a longer degradation time than conventional teabags (made from polyethylene terephthalate, silk, cotton, nylon), but less than other plastics.

How long does it take to break down?

Teabag

Nylon Tea Bag

Plastic Bag

3 to 6 months

30-40 years

100-500 years

Sustainable Alternatives To Nylon

Some tea companies, such as teapigs, have invested in differentiating their brand through sustainable packaging. This effort to differentiate informs teapigs packaging decisions, and content marketing strategy.

Teapigs make their tea temples from cornstarch; the attached string is also made from cornstarch, and the label uses paper and vegetable-based dye. Teapigs’s alternative to nylon tea bags is fully compostable when tea drinkers discard it into food waste. Teapigs’s commitment to sustainable tea packaging extends beyond their tea temples and into other dimensions of tea packaging.

By producing articles such as “Is there plastic in our tea and packaging?” teapigs offers content that allows the brand to meaningfully engage with customers and prospects. This interaction occurs at scale; “Is there plastic in our tea and packaging?” generated 96-105 monthly searches in 2021.

Teabags

Tetley officially introduced the teabag to the UK market in 1953. As a first mover, Tetley established a monopoly on the tea bag trade around that time. The first generation of Tetley tea bags had square rectangular forms and was designed for use in teapots (not cups).

Soon after the introduction of tea bags, tea brands made it the cornerstone of their marketing strategy. Tetley actively defended its position as a market leader; the brand continued to invest in packaging innovation through research and trial. In 1989 Tetley released a round teabag, and it was a marketing success. Tea drinkers preferred the shape; it became dominant in the UK and other tea markets.

Marketers have issued claims and counterclaims about which tea bag shape offers tea drinkers a superior infusion experience. For example, in the 1990s Typhoo claimed square bags had more perforations, allowing more flavour to flow out and create a superior steeping experience. Today, the markets reflect other packing options (e.g., tins, cardboard, tea pyramids, sustainable tea packaging) by which brands differentiate themselves.

Today, tea bags are manufactured in different forms. Square tea bags are produced separately or attached to one another, joined by a perforation. Tea brands actively protect product integrity by enclosing tea bags in envelopes, which are heat-sealed or crimped. Specific types of tea (e.g., Japanese green tea) requires additional product protection; in such cases, aluminium-sealed tea bags are used to prevent the tea’s exposure to water.

Tetley continues to innovate in teabag innovation; their modern innovations focus on improving the tea drinkers’ experience of using teabags. In 1994, Tetley released a drawstring tea bag offering tea drinkers an experience free of drips and mess. The drawstring tea bag allowed tea drinkers to squeeze out drops of tea by pulling a perforated tag apart in opposite directions.

After four years of R&D, Van den Bergh Foods further innovated the teabag in 1996; they launched the PG Tips Pyramid bag. This innovation focused on maximising liquor quality with fluid flow, rather than changing the tea quality.

The choice of tea bag material also affects the infusion process and quality. Tea bags have evolved from silk and muslin to sewn gauze, to fibre paper. Now, most tea bags are made from processed hemp or wood pulp, creating a near-perfect infusion.

Today tea bag material must meet many parameters:

  • Paper must meet stringent requirements of national and international food and drug laws

  • Material must be durable, allowing

    teabag machines

    to produce units at high speed

  • Material should be free from additives; it shouldn’t impart a taste or odour when used

  • Paper should be light in weight

  • Material should maintain its strength when wet

  • Paper must not be prone to defects, allowing for efficient tea bag production; the ratio of tea bags per kg of paper must be high

  • Paper must meet specific requirements of porosity; the pores must enable a quick infusion and retain maximum tea dust

  • Paper must be adhesive, allowing both sides of the teabag to be bonded together

The tea bag market was valued at USD $14,810 million in 2020, and is growing at 6.6% CAGR; market analysts expect it will be worth $67,920.8 million in 2028. Several factors are influencing this market growth, two of which are convenience and value for money.

Instant Tea

The global instant tea market was valued at $1.4 billion in 2019; it’s projected to reach $2.1 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 6.8% from 2021 to 2027. Instant tea appeals to tea drinkers because of convenience, and consumers exhibit this preference for instant tea in the products searched.

Instant tea benefits the tea market and sales in three key ways:

  1. Diversifies the tea market, expanding used cases and potential customers

  2. Allows instant tea to compete with the instant coffee market

  3. Instant tea appeals to the younger generation of tea drinkers

Brands producing instant tea typically package tea powder in containers, or as single servings.

The large instant tea containers include materials such as cardboard, aluminium, and plastic. Packaging for containers of iced tea generally has an aluminium seal, which keeps moisture from the tea powder granules, and proves product integrity (e.g., shows it’s tamper-free). Instant tea containers are not usually recyclable, which matters to some tea drinkers.

Instant tea, packaged as single servings, increase the production costs that tea companies incur, but such products sell at higher margins. Much of the value that instant tea provides consumers is convenience; a benefit for which many consumers are willing to pay.

Plastic is the material often used in single-serve instant tea packaging. The benefit of using plastic is it prevents water from reaching and spoiling the product. Dry instant tea offers tea drinkers a better blending experience.

However, the downside of such instant tea packaging is that the plastic is not biodegradable. For consumers invested in sustainable packaging, the plastic used in instant tea packaging may not inspire positive attitudes in some consumers.

Ready To Drink (RTD) Tea

The rise of RTD is a tea trend shaping the industry. The global ready-to-drink tea market size was valued at $29.66 billion in 2019 and is anticipated to reach $38.96 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 5.5%.

The United States is one of the prominent countries in the global RTD tea market, and black tea is the greatest contributor to the market by type of tea.

Bottled Tea

Bottled tea is extremely popular in America and China. Bottled tea is a competitive market in both countries, as bottled tea (e.g., Iced Tea) competes with other bottled tea brands, and soft drinks (e.g., Pepsi).

Packaging trends for bottled tea include the use of plastic tea packaging and prominent branding.

Canned Tea

Players in the tea industry entered the lucrative canned drink sector when the technology to stabilise tea in cans was developed. Consumers have a positive attitude to canned tea because the tins are recyclable and convenient.

The packaging of canned tea typically reflects the product and brand. Packaging trends for canned tea include heavy use of colours and clear branding.

Canned tea has proven popular in Asia since the 1980s, and is now popular in North American markets.

Itoen, a Japanese tea company, launched canned unsweetened oolong tea in 1981. The success of canned oolong tea is due in part to the tea itself; oolong tea is stable and tolerates temperatures 50–60°C, reflective of vending machine temperatures.

Other teas are more difficult to bottle. For example, green tea's delicacy makes it difficult to can; canned green tea doesn't naturally retain its quality well. However, including ascorbic acid deters oxidation in canned green tea, and adding vitamin C helps maintain the colour of green tea in cans and plastic bottles. The introduction of these two ingredients (ascorbic acid and vitamin C) has enabled canned tea market growth.

The canned tea market offers a range of tea types (e.g., green, oolong, pu-erh, and black), and has expanded into specialty tea, featuring teas from well-known origins (e.g., Darjeeling, Assam, and Ceylon). The canned tea segment has expanded to reflect a range of consumer preferences for added ingredients (e.g., milk, lemon, fruit, sugar).

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