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Unilever is the world’s
biggest integrated tea company. Lipton is one of their
largest brands and the world’s most popular tea brand
enjoyed by consumers everywhere. It is available in more
than 100 countries and has a global turnover of 1.9 bn.
Euros. The brand grew 5% in 2000. Top markets are the US,
Italy, Japan, Egypt, France, Turkey, Arabia, Pakistan,
Belgium and Poland.
Recent innovations include
o the Lipton Paint-the-World-Yellow campaign – a systematic
drive into out-of-home channels
o Pyramid tea bags which provide tea leaves with more room
to move and therefore give a better tasting
brew
o Cold Brew teabags which brew in cold water in less than 5
minutes, providing fresh-brewed iced tea.
Archetype tea is a Unilever global core brand positioning,
made up of a number of tea brands that are top sellers in
different countries and which address the taste and emotions
of specific local tea cultures. Brands included in the
Archetype are PG Tips in the UK and Red Label in India. With
a turnover in excess of 450,000,000 Euros, Archetype is the
UK’s most important foods brand.
In tea cultures, tea is part of the social fabric. Archetype
brands “have the ability to unite the social tribe”,
understanding local consumers and the way they live. They
represent the preferred taste of local markets and capture
the emotions and values of local people. Lipton will be the
first foreign brand to penetrate the green tea market in
China.
Unilever culture and sentiment has undergone a dramatic
shift in recent years. Staff are quite dynamic and global in
outlook, “sustainability” is often heard from the Chairman.
All of the environmental tasks ahead need a healthy business
and economic viability must be core if sustainability is to
be realised.
If Dilmah is the most innovative of the international tea
marketing businesses, Unilever is undoubtedly the largest
mainstream operator.
m) Whittard of Chelsea. This is a PLC with a high street
presence. It has recently refocused on core activities of
tea and coffee. In-store diversification into related wares
were unsuccessful and internet-based retailing suffered a
disappointing start. It is currently entering the liquid tea
market in the USA through concessions within the Marshalls
department stores.
2) Africa
Africa is a relative newcomer to tea production and is faced
with the usual problems of growing in Africa. Kenya, host of
the 2001 World Tea Convention, is a major
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