Fold of paper sustains British tea industry

Press, 11 June 1987, Page 20

Fold of paper sustains British tea industry

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JUDITH MATLOFF

NZPA-Reuter London

Britain has adopted the American hamburger, Indian curries, the Greek kebab and all. types of Chinese cuisine. But thankk mainly to a soggy fold of paper, it shows no sign of replacing its beloved tea.

Tea drinking, as entrenched in the nation's history as its former empire, might have succumbed to its market rival coffee, industry experts say. But the easy and cheap tea bag has fought oft that challenge to ensure that the leafy brew remains Britain’s chief drink. Since the 1950 s when the first tea bags were introduced to Britain, most households have abandoned the centuriesold ritual of preparing their beloved “cuppa” — pouring boiling water over tea leaves in a pot They have converted to the American method of using paper squares stuffed with leaves because they do not leave a sloshy, brown residue at the bottom of the pot which has to be disposed every time a brew -is made.

“The tea bag has sustained tea,” said Illtyd Lewis, executive director of Britain’s Tea Council. “The tea bag’s advent was a counter-ploy to the instant coffee explosion.”

He said that while tea bag use has grown over the past two years, consumption of instant coffee has been totally static.

Tea is more than twice as popular as alcohol and coffee, accounting for over 45 per cent of every beverage in Britain, according to the council, an independent initiative of big producers and the British tea trade.

Britain, which imports 25 per cent of the world's tea, uses nearly three million gallons of water a year to brew the drink, the council said in its latest annual report And nearly: 73 per cent of the estimated • 196 million cups of tea swallowed

daily in Britain are now made with tea bags. Many purists — the Queen is one, according to a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman — prefer loose-leaf tea. But most Britons apparently feel the bagged variety tastes the same as the traditional brew. Mr Lewis said year-on-year growth in tea bag consumption — seen mainly over the last 15 years — has not peaked as predicted and rose two per cent last year alone. R. Twining and Company, which has been selling tea since 1706 when drinking the brew began to take off in Britain, sees handiness as the main appeal of tea bags. “Tea bags are a wonderful convenience,” said the corporate relations director, Samuel Twining. The Tea Council said

that in addition to saving time, tea bags are more . economical, yielding up to 50 per cent more cups than the equivalent amount of loose tea. Leading sellers such as Twining, and Jacksons of Piccadilly, have , also won over many gourmet teadrinkers by packaging high-quality and exotic aromatic blends in bags. “A few years ago*the emphasis in the speciality end of the market was on loose leaf tea,” said a spokesman for Jacksons, which now sells about half of its tea in bags. “But we are convinced tea bags can produce just as good a cup.” Tea is probably even more a part of daily life than in the 1700 s, when Britain wrested control of the tea trade and London tea houses sprang up, and in the 1800 s when tea

breaks began, for working people. Tea is drunk to soothe jangled nerves, warm cool hands in damp weather, wash down all meals and aid digestion. There -"are tea dances, tea gardens, tea dresses, tea parties, nursery teas, power teas, high teas, low teas, morning teas, and office tea trolleys. , . Cricket matches break for tea. For many foreign tourists, a trip to Britain is not complete without a ritual late-aftemoon “high” tea accompanied by sandwiches, cakes, cream and jams. Mr Lewis and other experts expect tea to maintain its dominance in a society whose lifestyle has been shaped by it. “It’s cheap, ’ healthy, calorie-free and tradition is very strong,” he said.