News

Domestic tea sales jump 6%

November 21, 2014

According to new research from the American Botanical Council, sales of loose, bagged, concentrated and herbal tea in the US increased by 5.9 percent in 2013, totally $1.7B.

Ready-to-drink tea sales in the US remained relatively flat at $2.3B.

According to the report, growing demand for tea in is being driven by three primary factors: health and wellness trends, positive media coverage, and an evolving retail landscape.

For nine consecutive years, sales of carbonated soda beverages have fallen as consumers have become more conscious of healthier alternatives. This, coupled with a stream of research validating the health benefits of tea — particularly green tea — is driving consumers to the beverage option, the report said.

Additionally, thousands of independent and multiunit tea retail outlets are expanding nationwide, providing consumers with more access. Helping the accessibility is Starbucks' $620M acquisition of Teavana in 2012.

The HerbalEGram tea market report does not include tea sales from foodservice settings including restaurants, cafés, delis and similar establishments, but rather provide color on the tea market in general.

"More impressive than the current size of the tea industry is the fact that, for more than a decade, annual sales totals … have grown consistently in the United States with very few types of tea showing anything other than consistent gains," the report said. "The onslaught of hundreds of new retail tea outlets — and thousands more projected to open in the next few years — parallels the germinal stages of the fledgling US natural foods industry circa 1980 to 2000."