Young Brits Are Shunning Traditional Cups Of Tea In Favour Of ‘Healthy’ Herbal Alternatives

The law of the land is that if you’re British, you probably love tea - but that rule is apparently starting to fade.

It seems that Brits are starting to get bored of the traditional builder’s brew as sales for faves like PG Tips and Tetley fell by 13% from 2012 to 2014.

And demand for standard tea bags dropped from 97 million kg in 2010 to 76 million kg this year.

The blame for the slumps can be fixed firmly on the healthier alternatives like green tea and fruit and herbal tea bags, who have both seen huge increases in sales.

Mintel’s senior food and drink expert Emma Clifford said: “It is widely accepted that tea is a good accompaniment to biscuits and cakes.

Green tea: Sales of alternative tea have rocketed (Rex)

“Given the sugar scare, however, and that usage of such treats is in decline, these strong associations could have had a negative impact on the tea market.”

Ms Clifford also blamed the “uninspiring image” of the traditional cuppa.

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She added: “Signalling that consumers are becoming more adventurous in their choice of tea is that sales of fruit or herbal teas, speciality teas and green tea continue to post impressive performances.

“Reflecting a growing ‘foodie’ culture in the UK, people are branching away from standard teabags and towards these more interesting alternatives.”

Still popular: Brits drink 165 million cups of tea a day (Rex)

However, industry body the UK Tea and Infusion Association said there was no way Brits would abandon the traditional cup of tea in favour of the hipper alternatives.

Chairman Bill Gorman said: “It’s still a huge business and 90% of the tea we drink is black tea.

“There has been a dramatic change in the last five years in the range of teas on offer but we remain the world’s second largest tea drinking nation - behind the Irish.”

Brits get through a staggering 165 million cups of tea every day, compared to 70 million cups of coffee - so the death knell on the cuppa is some way off yet.

Top pic: Rex