July.2000 /Packaging is the unsung hero of the global tea business
Packaging is the unsung hero of the global tea business. Tea estates grow lovely verdant bushes on picturesque terrain, but then rely on tea packaging to sell their output. Every ounce of tea at some point between harvest and consumption exists in a container, and retail point-of-purchase laws often make it necessary for packaging to display net weight, nation of origin, and company address. In fact, throughout the entire Western world almost all tea bought for home consumption is in labeled packaging. 　The broadest trend in retail tea is the expansion of cardboard packaging. Other packaging trends exist, but are more narrowly focused. On the lowest demographic end, plastic packet are expanding market territory among the rural indigent; on the most upscale end, the materials used for packaging include brass, ceramic, porcelain, fine hardwoods, and micro-engineered tins. While such prestigious packaging elevates the status of the entire tea trade, this top line contains only a fraction of a single percent of the tea sold world-wide by net weight. The most popular mid-range packaging format, cardboard, captures the major market share. 　Countless millions of cardboard tea boxes sit on store shelves throughout the world. These boxes are the primary vehicle for tea brands and company slogans to reach consumer awareness. The alternative to entering consumer consciousness is failure. Companies in this competitive business are now allocating additional money for more attractive packaging. Graphic designers and advertising experts are among the highest paid professionals now hired by successful tea companies. Even lawyers enter the packaging picture, advising on proper labeling of trademark, copyright, nation-of-origin, net weight, contents, and health or purity claims. 　Customer perception of a package creates brand equity and purchaser loyalty. The image presented by the package largely determines success or failure of a tea line. Appearance stimulates memories and emotions inside the purchase, who oftentimes is female, often buying for an entire family. Color, imagery, and slogans all combine to facilitate customer allegiance. 　 Tea executives are routinely sophisticated in production, tax avoidance, labor management, and a hundred other business topics. Yet they rarely understand packaging design. The executives, almost always men, who authorize final decisions on packaging generally lack artistic design knowledge. Good tea packaged in a dull box can earn a profit, but will sell below potential.
BACK	NEXT