Tea Drinking Tops the World’s ‘Hottest’ Beverage Category
Global food giant Unilever has called tea the ‘hottest beverage’ being consumed around the world. And they don’t mean a temperature too hot to drink. They’re talking about the saleability of tea products, particularly as soda sales decline over obesity and obesity-related illness concerns.
From the daily ritual to global accessibility and the proven health benefits, tea is appealing to both young and old demographics around the planet. In particular the cold, ready to drink category is growing at a rapid pace due to support from celebs including Rhianna, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, reports Beverage Daily. “It’s a category with power, because it serves half of our population. And it’s a category with scale, with one trillion cups of tea served every year,” said Winfried Hopf, Executive VP of global beverages at Lipton, a division of Unilever.
The tea category is valued at an estimated $18 billion worldwide, with “unlimited opportunities,” said Hopf, adding, “Tea is the category and the product that delivers against those requirements [goodness inside brands and products], because it’s not just a delicious drink, it’s more. Firstly, it’s natural, healthy, revitalizing.”
Hopf said that tea, “gives focus for your brain and wellness for your body. It’s full of goodness and it stimulates body and mind in the most positive way,” adding that it’s also a quite “affordable treatment, in a world of increasing health concerns and restrictions, and we expect it to accelerate with such functional benefits and growth as a category, even more so versus today.”
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Image: Kanko