If you haven't heard, Starbucks just opened its first Teavana Tea Bar in Manhattan in hopes of slicing out its share of the $90 billion global tea market. They are looking to open at least 1,000 more of these bars within 10 years.
At BuzzBack we were also fascinated in the growing interest of tea, and conducted our own BuzzPoll to better understand what was driving consumers.
Not surprisingly, the focus is on tea's health benefits. But not only that … drinking tea is also a state of mind.
In our study, we asked consumers who drink tea to create an online collage that expressed the thoughts, feelings, and associations that come to mind when they think about brewed tea. Below are some examples from our eCollage™ tool.
"Tea makes me think of relaxation, meditation, nature and health."
"It is a quiet time to sit and enjoy the day and reflect on life. Since I like the herbal teas and flavored teas the fruits are a reminder of them. The cup is a reminder of my mother and her love of the afternoon tea break using one of her many fancy tea cups."
"Tea is a refreshing, soothing, delightful, and social beverage. You have to slow down to prepare and drink it."
However, don't expect tea drinkers to give up coffee. In our BuzzPoll, about two-thirds of brewed tea consumers still drink coffee almost every day and Starbucks is banking on that too. While the Teavana Tea Bars will have a more relaxed, leisurely atmosphere where people come come in, sit back and relax, customers will still want to pop in to Starbucks for an on-the-go beverage.
Click here for more information on our tea study.
