Historic North East tea company Ringtons has opened a new fruit and herb tea facility in the region after seeing demand soar in the last year.
The Byker-based business, which marks its 115th anniversary this year, first started with a horse-drawn delivery service in the streets of Newcastle but now has thousands of customers buying its tea, coffee and biscuits in stores, online and through its doorstep delivery service.
And while sales of traditional tea and biscuits have surged in recent years to take turnover to £65.2m – driven by pandemic lockdowns and the subsequent rise in people working from home – the manufacturers have seen large rises in the fruit and herb tea (F&H) category over the last 12 months, significantly outperforming other categories in the tea fixture.
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Elliot Smith, associate director and fifth generation of the family firm, said that whether it’s the perceived calming effects of camomile, gut-benefiting peppermint or immune-boosting ginger, consumers appear to be adding F&H to their shopping baskets more and more.
He said fruit and herb teas have seen an increase of 6.2% in spend and 7.4% in volume as of December 2021, increases which give Ringtons a 17% value market share.
To keep up with market demand, Ringtons has recently opened a new fruit and herb blending and storage facility at the Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate.
The new 1,730 sq m facility is operated by a team of expert blenders and has the ability to produce in excess of 500,000kg per annum – the equivalent of 250m tea bags.
An expanding list of 250 raw components is currently held on-site and goes into making up the 195 different blends that are produced by the team.
Finished blends are sent for final packing at Ringtons production facility on Tyneside, or can be provided in bulk or small batches to wholesale customers for onward packing.
The tasting team at the Byker base also constantly explores new components, working closely with customers to take advantage of market trends and develop exciting new blends.
Mr Smith added: “As Ringtons enters its 115th year it continues to move from strength to strength, having posted strong results year ending June 2021 despite the difficult conditions imposed on all businesses by the pandemic.
“We continue to invest in our future to ensure we can provide customers with the premium levels of product and service we have become renowned for.”
