Tea Business Ideas
Tea is one of the most consumed beverage on this planet. Most people drink it at least once a day. There are even very formal tea ceremonies in such countries such as China and Japan. Fun Fact: According to World Tea News there are approximately 2.16 billion cups of tea drank daily only a few millions short of coffee which is the most consumed beverage in the world.
Tea is also considered an elixir just like coffee. Medical experts also warn that overconsumption of tea just like coffee can be bad for your health. Of course the key to health especially with food in life is moderate consumption. Take note of this when you are selling or endorsing tea products.
Camellia Sinensis is the name of the plant where our normal tea comes from. There are other plants however that can be made into tea. Tea by simplicity is any hot beverage flavoured by plant bits like stems or leaves. Pine tree tea is an example. Pine tree needle is boiled just like tea leaves and have the same soothing effect with just a different taste. There are in fact a lot of enterprising people who sell tea made from different kinds of plants.
Other Tea Products
Other tea products such as tea infused ice creams are also getting exposure in many countries of the world preferably in Asia in such countries as Thailand and Japan. In Japan tea ice cream is so commonplace now that it can be found in most convenience stores and supermarkets.
There are also tea infused candies. The most popular tea candies I can find are those from the region of Bali in the country of Indonesia where they sell both coffee and tea candies made from coffee and tea plants in their country. They are being sold in such countries as the US where they can be bought online from such stores as Amazon and Walmart.
There are also tea infused cakes, cookies and biscuits which are usually consumed together with a hot cup of tea. There are also dishes infused with tea. There are meat and vegetable dishes with tea ingredients in them cooked usually as broth or soup. There are also grilled meat infused with tea.
As can be seen there are many kinds of food that are infused with tea to greatly improve their taste. There are Chinese people for example who burn tea leaves to smoke foods such as fish, meat and poultry to improve their smoky flavour. Given this knowledge enterprising persons can market tea to non-Chinese people or any people unaware of this food benefit from tea.
Tea is a Lifestyle Product
Tea just like coffee is also considered a lifestyle product because many people are familiar with its taste and consume it as a part of their daily ritual. Fun Fact: There are tea brands that cost millions per kilogram like Da-Hong Pao Tea which cost $1.2 million dollars per kilogram and is considered a national treasure by the Chinese government.
One can make good money with tea by highlighting the value of their product such as taste, health effects and even pedigree. As I have mentioned before tea can be very valued that there are formal ceremonies associated just to drink it. One can even open formal tea drinking establishments and tea parties to further their income.
You Can Start Small
If one wants to start earning money by selling tea they can start by selling the less expensive tea brands so they can determine which particular brand sell more to their customers. I have tasted several kinds of teas from different brands and know that the cheaper mass produced teas are blander in taste as compared to the more expensive less common brands.
The selling point for these teas is price and hence most buyers are those looking to save money. One good thing about tea is that it can be used more than once to flavour a cup of hot water. You can use this as a selling point when selling mass produced teas. These buyers usually just want a bit of flavour in the hot water they drink to sooth them.
The more expensive teas contain a stronger flavour and definitely are more soothing. One is advised to try different tea samples to know the difference between each type of tea. There are tea sampler products one can buy. These tea sampler products contain small quantities of different tea types for one to get acquainted to the different tastes of coffee.
If one becomes familiar with the different tea tastes then one can progress with trading or selling more high quality but more expensive teas. An interesting Youtube video titled Around The World In 80 Trades - Trade in the Far East tells the story of a London based finance trader who left his office job to trade in the real physical world. One of the things he traded was tea.
The tea story starts after 15:20 minutes of the video. The story ends with him losing money trading tea because he is not knowledgeable which tea brand and taste buyers want. He also did not successfully market his tea and got fooled by the hype over investing in collectible tea.
Conclusion
His tea story is just like selling any product in any industry. More often than not what brings a company money is by not only producing a superior product alone but also superior marketing and industry knowledge. Many aspiring entrepreneurs fail because they think people will buy a product just because it is superior and/or new.