Welcome to the final part of our series on the new generation of tea drinkers. This week, we look at the role social media plays in influencing the next generation of tea enthusiasts.
Missed an installment? Read them all here!
More so than any other demographic group, Gen Z and Millennials are influenced by social media in their consumption habits. The consumer survey from ResearchandMarkets.com, "Food Market Outlook 2024: Opportunities & Challenges With Pricing, Convenience, Sustainability & More," concluded that, “The impact of social media and so-called digital tastemakers is highest among younger consumers, which is unsurprising. Overall, consumers report many factors affecting their decision to try new foods and beverages. Recommendations from family and friends and sales or promotions are the most impactful factors influencing consumers to try new foods.”
Indeed, Adi Baker, Communications Coordinator for the Tea and Herbals Association of Canada, says that research conducted by the Tea & Herbal Association of Canada has shown that interesting flavors and recommendations by friends and family are among the top reasons for choosing tea over other beverages.
Yan He, the president of Penn State’s Korean tea club, says that social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube are most actively reaching out to her generation, and that TikTok is more geared towards even younger people. “Social media features a lot of tea products, and just because our generation consumes a lot of social media, a lot of branding takes place online,” she says.
PG Tips, the venerable British Tea label known for its premium teabags, launched an ad campaign on TV and YouTube in 2024 with segments starring rapper Ashley Walters (also star of the popular Channel 4 / Netflix series Top Boy) and directed by acclaimed auteur Steve McQueen, known best for his Oscar-winning film, Twelve Years a Slave.
Recognized for its audacious ad campaigns that featured actor/comedians Peter Sellers and Johnny Vegas, as well as the ‘60s pop band The Monkees, it had been over a decade since PG Tips launched an ad campaign with any kind of ambition. Sellers is regarded as one of the greatest comedic actors of all time, and The Monkees had, in their day, been electric, spawning their own TV show. However, the then parent company of PG Tips, Unilever, cut the ad budget after a spot featuring an aging Monkees band failed to deliver.
The Waters/McQueen campaign, launched last year with the first spot being called “Rock Solid,” is firmly aimed at young people in an attempt by PG Tips to regain their place in British culture. Market research conducted by Lipton Teas and Infusions, which owns PG Tips and has been hived off from Unilever since the latter’s investment freeze, must have shown that young people were a viable market for the company to make such an investment
How successful they will be remains to be seen, especially since young people have begun to purchase loose leaf tea over teabags in increasing numbers thanks to the recent news that teabags made from nylon [nylon-6 (NY6)], polypropylene (PP), and cellulose (CL) leach microplastics and nanoplastics into tea. This news has become especially motivating in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought health concerns to the forefront of public discourse.
At the time of writing this article, of the tea companies contacted, only Bigelow Tea and Twinings got back to World Tea News. In a verbal conversation, Twinings maintained that the material used by the company contains no microplastics. Moreover, Kathy Reynolds, consumer service specialist at Bigelow Tea, wrote this in response to an email on the issue, “We recognize there is a lot of attention around the topic related to the use of nylon tea bag material. Please know that the tea bags which we use in manufacturing are not made of nylon. We use plant-based materials, such as abaca fibers and wood pulps, which are compostable.”
Reynolds added: “We’d like to share that our teas and ingredients are sourced globally, then packaged and manufactured in one of our three manufacturing facilities, which are in the U.S.A.”
Baker says that “healthier beverage choices” are among the top five reasons for young people to consume tea.
Little elaborates that health and sustainability are likely influencing younger people to consider making the switch to loose leaf tea, but price often acts as a barrier.
“The trick will be in educating the consumer about the price,” says Professor Katharine Burnett, founder of the Global Tea Institute at The University of California, Davis (UC Davis). “And, why it's reasonable to spend more money on loose leaf tea...[as] loose-leaf tea can be brewed more than once.”
Plan to Attend or Participate in World Tea Expo, March 23-25, 2026
To learn about other key developments, trends, issues, hot topics and products within the global tea community, plan to attend World Tea Expo, March 23-25, 2026 in Las Vegas, co-located with Bar & Restaurant Expo. Visit WorldTeaExpo.com.
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