Welcome to part two of our series on the new generation of tea drinkers. This week, we look at what types and flavors of tea are enticing younger consumers.
Missed an installment? Read them all here!
“It’s getting harder to get young people into drinking a black tea bag,” said a marketing executive at a large international tea company who asked not to be named. “They like variety.”
In China, Gen Z has more choice than any generation. Brought up into relative affluence compared to prior generations, Starbucks outlets are multiplying in China like rabbits. Notably, though the Chinese youth has discovered coffee, the nation hasn’t experienced a decline in tea consumption.
According to Coffee Intelligence, while China is undergoing a “coffee revolution,” which is quite new, “they are also spearheading new and innovative ways of preparing tea, many of which depart from centuries-old traditions. This includes products that have since gained global recognition, such as bubble tea.”
The website adds: “Estimates show that those in Gen Z account for 71% of “new” tea-drinking experiences, which include bubble tea and fruit tea. (Fruit tea regularly comes out on top in surveys of Chinese consumers’ favorite type of tea.)”
Hannah Little from the retail business, Tour de Tea in Brisbane, Australia, also notes the emergence of bubble tea over there. “Bubble tea has exploded,” she says. “Matcha has trendified beyond belief.
“But unadulterated, traditional tea drinking is a much quieter space. It doesn’t demand the same attention, which means the discovery is slower for young people arriving to a tea space for the first time."
The Pennsylvania State University tea club presidents agree, categorizing bubble tea as an altogether different beverage. “If you drink straight tea, you can taste all the different flavor notes," says Eleonora Khafizova, the president of Gongfu Cha Club. "What does it make you feel? What’s the aroma like? You can't get any of that from boba [bubble] tea. So, I think it's just completely two different products.”
Sarah Christine Leonard, the president of the Japanese Tea Club, agrees that sugary drinks like matcha lattes or boba are in a different category, "I love those drinks, but they are in a different mind space from traditional tea.”
They all agree that bubble tea is popular, exemplified by the fact that there are more bubble tea shops in the university town where they study than there are traditional teahouses and even cafés.
Nigel Melican, CEO of the consultancy Teacraft Technical Services, remarks that bubble tea is very much on the rise—and part of it is that it’s a trend. “Bubble tea billionaires are being created daily in South East Asia, and for aspiring young Americans, there's nothing like the vicarious glory by association than drinking a billionaire's bubble tea,” Melican says.
However, he says young people are driven by health and experimenting with different flavors and experiences as well. “My perception is that the new generation is intent on tea diversification if it brings in novelty and excitement. Trends seem to be towards broadening the definition of tea to embrace herbals and botanicals (and beyond) for their diversity and perceived health benefits, though mainly I guess for their vast range of colors and flavors,” Melican adds.
Emeric Harney, one of the proprietors of Harney & Sons Fine Teas, has also observed the move to diversity. “I've found that it's a diverse set of flavors that they are gravitating towards, but there's definitely been an increase in matcha consumption. That one stands out the most to me!” he says.
Some people see bubble tea, tisanes, and herbals as a “gateway drug” into serious tea consumption. “If a young person hasn’t had much experience with tea, their foot in the door often starts with tisanes,” says Little. “The often-sweet notes and broad range of flavors gives young people an instant ability to appreciate what’s happening in their cup and engage with the practice of tea—and once they’re in a habit, it’s a matter of building more diversity into that routine, if they want to continue developing their palate.”
Top tea beverages consumed by Gen Z (over a 6-month period) in Canada according to Adi Baker, Communications Coordinator for the Tea and Herbals Association of Canada, include: hot black tea (including flavored); hot herbal tea (including flavored); hot green tea (including flavored); ready-to-drink iced tea; bubble tea; and homemade iced tea.
Tea-based beverages also act as a means by which the taste of tea is popularized. Most young people are already consuming gallons of iced tea with the large beverage companies moving into this space with “ready-to-drink” (RTD) iced tea options. However, companies are actively reducing the sugar content in response to changing tastes.
The Tea & Coffee Trade Journal states that, “as more consumers prioritize health and wellness, to attract and retain RTD tea consumers, brands must continue to launch low-sugar and functional options, along with new flavor profiles and new ingredients, all while also highlighting the natural health benefits of tea."
Coca-Cola’s experiment with Honest Tea in the U.S. was one such endeavor; after it was discontinued in that market, the company joined with Luxmi Estates in India to revive the brand using whole leaf, high-altitude Makaibari Estate tea. Coca-Cola has followed up with an unsweetened version of the sweet tea brand, Gold Peak. PepsiCo is also in this segment, having launched Pure Leaf Iced Tea, which is an unsweetened black tea. Recently, Luxmi also developed a tea-based mixer called Zero Proof that is unsweetened and contains only organic and natural herbs for flavoring other than tea. It is launching in Makaibari outlets in India, initially, but Luxmi Estates has a global outlook for the product line.
Labels such as “organic” and “fair trade” are very important to the young consumer as found in the 2023 Kerry Proprietary Research Sustainability Report, which concluded that more than three in four people ages 18-25 agree that damage to the environment is permanent, compared to around half of consumers in general, reflecting their inclination to source sustainably produced foods.
As a tea retailer, Little has also observed much of the same. “We continue to see customers moving towards more sustainable options, in both a sense of global responsibility and personal well-being," says Little. "Young people are cognizant of this.”
Part 4, the final installment of this series, will be out next week, and it will cover the role social media plays in influencing the next generation of tea enthusiasts.
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