Tea in Ireland

PROSPECTS

Non-traditional variants to surge in popularity

Ireland is in the midst of a health and wellness revolution driven by continued governmental focus on the state of the nation’s health. Green tea has long been associated with wellness for its healthy properties and manufacturers have flooded the market with variants to satisfy growing consumer demand.

Ageing population and health awareness will support black tea growth

Ireland has the fastest-growing ageing population in the EU. The number of Irish people over the age of 65 has been increasing by 20,000 year on year.

Premiumisation, online sales and EU regulations

Ireland’s tea drinkers have been historically relatively slow to change their preferences and broaden their range of tea, but this has been changing in recent years. Premium tea companies like House of Tea, which import over 800 different types of teas to Ireland – have begun to thrive in recent years driven by increased consumer sophistication.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Leading brands campaign for mental health

Barry’s and Lyon’s tea collaborated with leading Irish charities in 2018 to help increase awareness of mental health and in particular suicide. Ireland has one of the highest suicide rates in the EU and the number of people seeking help for depression and anxiety soared over the review period.

Environmental concerns driving NPDs

There has been a huge increase in Irish media coverage of plastics and their impact on the environment in 2018. All of the main tea bag manufacturers use trace amounts of plastic in their tea bags to help the bags to maintain their shape when mixed with boiling water as this helps to diffuse the flavour.

Domestic brands continue to dominate

Both Lyons and Barry’s continued to dominate the marketplace in 2018 despite increased pressure in the non-black tea space. Although Lyons is now part of the Unilever group it retains its physical presence in Dublin and Barry’s remains independently owned and headquartered in Cork.

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