The Stories Behind Specialty Beverages
The delight in selling fine coffee and tea – and exotic and rare chocolate to make sumptuous hot cocoa – is learning the background stories and sharing them with customers. While there are more fine coffee drinkers than there are fine tea imbibers, the tea numbers are growing, as are the choices of fine teas available today. Shopper education is an important role retailers should assume with relish, especially in the hot beverage category. The stories behind the products – how and where they are grown, how they are roasted and/or dried, how they are packaged and how they should be prepared and consumed – trans- form them from mere product on the shelf into an experience.
If you turn to page 8, you will read a truly transporting piece about Jasmine Pearl tea written by Brian Igoe, the Executive Vice President of Gourmet Business. His passion for and description of this product, and the story behind it, make you want to run out and buy it right away. These are the types of stories retailers must tell to convert tea shoppers into true aficionados.
Joanne Friedrick’s article, “Tea’s Strength is its Story,” offers tips and suggestions on how to bring the artisan roots and romance of tea to life through sampling, education and merchandising. Tea buyers travel far and wide to find rare and small batches of teas, each of which has a unique story. Because specialty tea is such a new and emerging category in America, it requires a bit of evangelizing, according to one specialty retailer. But at the root of education must be teaching store associates how to better sell specialty tea and coffee, and arming them with the ability to answer the most frequently asked questions about the products.
And don’t miss Laura Everage’s article, “Building Coffee and Tea Sales,” page 9, which adds another dimension to specialty beverage retailing by focusing on all the trends that are driving consumption, as well as new trends in coffee and tea wares that enhance the preparation and drinking experience. Laura also drills down into the coffee-at-home trend and booming cold coffee beverage sales.
Because drinking specialty beverages is such a sensory experience, it’s important to sample them in your stores, which of course drives sales. Sampling events can also transform you from merchant to the enviable specialty beverage expert who knows the stories behind the products.