02 September 2020, 09:31 AM
  • Ahmad Tea, the world’s largest independent family-owned tea company and a global leader in speciality tea, reflects on the role of tea in 2020 and reveals how its new generation of tea is supporting consumers, communities, and the planet
Ahmad Tea’s ‘Tea For Good’ Mission

With Brits spending an additional £24m on tea and coffee during the pandemic (Kantar research based on 12 weeks to 12th July 2020), in uncertain times a good cup of tea is more than an essential – it has the power to bring people together, to comfort and unite.

Making every sip count
As the speciality food sector works to reshape and redefine the ‘new normal’ we find ourselves in, the role of tea in our society has never been more poignant.

At Ahmad Tea, this means not resting on our laurels – consumers have high expectations of the tea they drink, from the flavour of the blend to the sustainability of the product, so it’s vital that we continue to innovate to create the finest quality tea, and to make every sip count.

A quality brew
As we emerge from lockdown, we’re seeing a growing appetite for innovation as consumers look beyond the essentials to new concepts and products that offer something different.

In fact, with 7 in 10 consumers citing taste as important to their tea choice (The Grocer/HIM research, September 2019), and nearly half (48%) prepared to pay more for a high quality brew (Mintel – Tea and other hot drinks report, July 2019), at Ahmad Tea we understand that quality counts, and our Great Taste Award winning new-look Pyramid range offers the quality of luxury whole leaf tea in the convenience of a pyramid.

With 8 new blends to tempt the taste buds – from classic black and green teas including Royal Chai and Supreme Lemon & Matcha to innovative dessert inspired blends such as Great Taste Award winning Apple & Vanilla Crumble and Cacao & Honey Truffle – we’ve put a great deal of care and passion into crafting our new blends to marry the finest quality loose leaf tea with the most innovative and tantalising flavours, providing consumers with something unparalleled in terms of quality, taste and innovation.

From cup to compost Now, more than ever, sustainability counts. From cup to compost, consumers care about the tea they drink. As a business, we’ve worked hard to ensure our new Pyramids are 100% biodegradable and plastic-free so that consumers can enjoy our tea safe in the knowledge that it not only tastes great but is planet-friendly too.

Kindness counts
With the onset of the global pandemic, never has it been a more important time for communities to thrive. At Ahmad Tea, from our HQ in Hampshire, our mission is to drive positive change across the globe by bringing communities together to help those most in need. We do this by donating 20% of our profits to charity – spreading kindness to those who need it most, from helping people in Niger to access clean water and improving cancer care in Sri Lanka, to creating equal access to quality education for those in crisis in the Ukraine.

How Ahmad Tea is supporting clean water in Niger
Niger frequently suffers drought and only half of the country’s residents have access to clean water.

Since 2012, Ahmad Tea has been working with Oxfam in Soumatt, Niger to provide access to clean drinking water, to ensure communities have greater sanitation and hygiene, and to launch income generating activities such as water for market. Since work began 9 years ago, 44,000 people in the region now have access to clean water.

Working together with Oxfam, we have:
- Dug 17 boreholes and modernised a further 20
- Installed solar powered irrigation systems for market gardens
- Involved communities in the management of water points to ensure their sustainability for future generations

As a result, The Niger National Water Board has taken on the learnings from the project and has plans to apply these on a national level, meaning access to drinking water is no longer a luxury.