A different cup of tea !

As a salesperson, I knocked on many doors. I visited hypermarkets, university shops, provision shops, industrial canteens, coffeeshops, convenience stores, multi-level marketing companies, distribution houses, factories ... but yesterday my visit was to a tea blender & merchant in Kuala Lumpur. Since getting into the bulk tea business, I spend considerable time sampling and tasting tea with this unique group of passionate individuals.

This particular tea blender I visited started selling tea when he was 17. Today after 36 years in the tea and coffee business , he is quite an authority in as far as distributing tea and coffee to the downline trade. Quite proud of his personal success, he was dying to tell me his story from the very beginning ...

After giving me a tour of his factory, our conversation centred on consumption habits at the mamak coffeeshops and kopi tiams. He was complaining about dipping sales trend for his tea. He thought consumers consumed less teh tarik , tea with condensed milk, because of government clampdown on artificial colouring in tea. The banned colouring fooled many unsuspecting consumers who thought darker tea meant a stronger tea. The colouring was an attempt to stretch the tea concentrate in the tea stocking .. so that the tea maker can churn out more cups of tea thereby increasing profits.

What my tea blender friend did not notice was that competition was the real culprit. The product offerings at the mamak coffeeshops and kopi tiams have expanded. Hot drinks vs Cold drinks. Carbonated drinks vs Non-carbonated drinks, Home-made drinks vs manufactured drinks. And the influx of ready-to-drinks tetrapaks, bottled and can drinks , all of which fighting to quench the thirst of the consumer.

There is competition everywhere - product categories, brands and even the storage areas and coolers of the on-premise outlets. My tea blender friend may have found the formula for the best cup of tea after 36 years experience, but to win over the customer may be a different cup of tea !