Foodservice and retailers shifting focus from coffee to tea
Evolving consumer demand is inspiring retailers, restaurants and fast food chains to expand their tea offering. NPD market research shows that specialty retailers like Starbucks increased their servings of hot tea by 18% this year, while iced tea sales grew 5% over the same period. Technomic's market studies also found significant growth in the variety of tea flavors and ingredients in restaurants nationwide, as large fast food chains like McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King continue to roll out sweetened and unsweetened hot and iced options. In retail, ready-to-drink tea category grew 58% in the last 6 years and 5% last year alone, making it the fourth-fastest growing beverage category in the US. According to market research firm Mintel, one of the explanations for this trend is the coffee category becoming oversaturated.