When it comes to tea, convincing the British market to turn over a new leaf and embrace anything other than the traditional ‘builders’ variety continues to be a tough challenge. Despite the rise in trendy tea houses and the much-publicised health benefits of certain blends, consumer attitudes in the UK are evolving relatively slowly.

But with the global tea market predicted to increase to US$47.20 billion by 2020 (an annual growth rate of 2.8%), for Alex Minakov, co-founder of Curious Tea, it’s a challenge worth exploring.   

“We’re trying our best to break down the tea culture in this country. We’re opening people’s minds to the choice and quality available and generating awareness. We really play on the educational aspect of it all,”
says Minakov, who has witnessed a steady increase in demand for his premium subscription boxes since launching almost a year ago.”

Growing up in Russia, Minakov is no stranger to the tea drinking culture, but after moving to the UK in 2000 he was so surprised by the lack of good quality tea available that he fell out of love with the beverage.

It wasn’t until he became ill and was encouraged to make some lifestyle changes that he began to discover the world of tea once again.

“I was told I shouldn’t drink alcohol anymore in light of my health, so I started exploring other drinks that I could have with food. I found that like wine, different teas had different tastes based on how they were processed and where they were grown. And like wine you could pair them with different foods.

“It was all quite exciting and I decided it would be a good basis for a business – with the goal of introducing people to tea.”

At the time Minakov was working in the city but growing tired of his everyday life, the idea of Curious Tea, a subscription service offering users different high quality and unusual teas, was born.

“I was the driving force, but I realised I couldn’t do it alone. I had legal and business knowledge, but my business partner Scott Haydn had the technical skills, so we decided to set up the company together.”

Ploughing all of their money into the idea, the pair who were both able to carry on with their jobs on a part-time basis, took around 6 months to create the business before launching it in December 2014.

“We had to set up the website, come up with a name, find suppliers, find the right packaging and create a complete product. We didn’t want to use a creative agency, so we designed it all.”

Keeping everything from the branding to the distribution in-house has allowed the business to continue to operate at a low cost, but Minakov is happy to admit that being able to balance two jobs has helped to fund the brand.

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“Our objective is to make Curious Tea a full time job,” he says, but aside from the end goal, convincing consumers to try new teas is what it’s always been about.”

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“A lot of consumers are hesitant to try our teas. They say ‘oh I don’t drink funny tea’, but when they taste it, they love it. In the US it’s so much easier because there isn’t the same history or tradition attached to tea drinking. Americans are open to trying anything, but here it’s a lot harder. People are so used to one style of tea that they are unwilling to try anything new.”

But that hasn’t stopped Minakov trying. Like most startups, he says that working with influential bloggers (who have reviewed the teas) has helped the company to grow. However, in his opinion nothing beats direct interaction.

“One of our most successful strategies has been going to trade shows because we can interact directly with the consumers and the majority of them are surprised at what we have available,” he says. “If you use good quality tea (like ours) it makes a good product, so persuading people to try our tea in person has been the most effective marketing method for us.

“We have social media accounts and yes they’re good at generating awareness for the brand (especially in younger generations), but they’re an add-on. We can’t measure the amount of sales those accounts generate, but social media is something consumers expect a business to have these days in order to interact, so they’re still important.”

And it’s those very same millennials who have been driving current trends in the wellness industry of late.

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“We’ve had a lot of younger people sign up which is great – they say tea’s really up and coming and they want to explore what we have to offer.”

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“If tea becomes trendy it’s good for us as it will increase demand, but in general we’re happy that people are also starting to realise that quality is important.”

Concerned with more than just the taste or basic nutritional values of products, the emergence of consumers who are becoming more focused on the quality and sustainability of products has the potential to propel the business forward and allow the brand to expand, which Minakov says is very much part of the plan.

“Our USP not only rests on the the selection of teas we provide, which are rare and limited in production. It is also down to the fact we make sure our consumers know exactly where it came from, why it’s called what it is and so much more. We’re very transparent.”

And while supermarket prices might appear cheaper (a subscription to Curious Tea costing £16.95 per month for two resealable 50g pouches) Minakov argues that quality is low and suppliers are likely to be getting a bad deal.

“What do the pickers and manufacturers get if the supermarket is selling tea for £1? The suppliers we deal with set the price so we know they are getting a good deal,” he explains.

It’s difficult to dispute the ongoing demand for low-cost tea, but Curious Tea’s transparency and high quality products have the potential to tap into the shift in consumer thinking. Catering to the ‘informed consumer’ is a clever business strategy, though even better says Minakov, is providing truly exceptional tea.

To find out more about Curious Tea and upcoming trade shows, click here.