People have been enjoying tea for thousands of years. It is known to have been grown as far back as 2,100 years ago when it was a drink of choice during the Chinese Han dynasty.
Today, consumers continue to look to tea to support their wellbeing, whether it’s stress relief, promoting better sleep or digestion. Scientific studies have shown that the polyphenols in green and black tea may help prevent cardiovascular diseases while fermented teas like Pu-erh and kombucha are known to improve gut and immune health.
Tea is now the second most popular drink in the world after water. It is consumed by two in three people – many of whom drink it more than once a day, and the global tea market continues to grow steadily. India’s tea exports rose to 248,000 tonne in 2019 (from 226.06 in 2017), with Japan, Iran, Russia, the US, the UK and Germany all key markets. Tea exports from Sri Lanka climbed from 288.98 thousand tonne in 2017 to 292.66 in 2019.
One of the current drivers for growth in tea markets is rising demand for beverages that support health and wellness. And one category where there are opportunities is probiotic tea.
Functional beverages are trending
While traditional supplements continue to dominate the nutraceuticals industry, recent years have seen functional food and beverages - food and drink that come with added health benefits - become a hugely popular vehicle for health benefits. Reflecting this, the wellness hot drinks market was worth 5.1 billion Euros in 2019 and projected to grow at a CAGR of 2.9% through 2023.
The Covid-19 crisis appears to have accelerated this trend. In India, for example, consumers' preferred method of obtaining immune health benefits post-pandemic is through daily food and beverages.
Probiotics and tea: Perfect partners
Gastrointestinal health in particular is a consumer priority, with 17% of people who drink tea saying they do so for digestive health benefits. Probiotics are perhaps the best known ingredient for gut health: 83% of consumers are familiar with them and 53% believe they have a positive impact on the gut.
There is also plenty of evidence that shows probiotics can boost tea’s appeal. In 2019, Kerry carried out a global survey of more than 11,000 health-conscious consumers in 14 countries. Nearly one fourth (28%) said they would be more interested in purchasing hot beverages if they contained ingredients promoting digestive health, and for ready-to-drink teas and coffees the figure was 20%.
Probiotic claims in the tea category have seen steady growth in recent years, partly because of the emergence of Bacillus coagulans probiotic strains. In the past, probiotics could not be added to tea, because traditional vegetative strains could not cope in hot conditions.
Spore-forming strains, by contrast, have a structure that is highly resilient, allowing them to withstand harsh processing conditions including the exposure to boiling water inherent in the tea-making process. Manufacturers have therefore been able to use spore-formers to create innovative new probiotic teas. One example is Vahdam Digestion Probiotic Tea.
Consumers want to see the science
In 2018, 26% of functional tea launches globally carried a digestive or probiotic claim – a 13% increase over 2016. So how can your probiotic tea stand out in this increasingly crowded market?
In one word: science. Globally, 39% of consumers say claims based on research or scientific data makes them more likely to buy a healthy lifestyle product, with this figure rising above half in countries like Thailand. Transparency is also a key factor – almost half (48%) of consumers in China, for example, want to see benefits explained on the packaging. Not all probiotic ingredients are created equal, so it’s important to use one that’s backed by science.
There are many reasons to be excited about probiotic teas. One is the growing global demand for beverages with functional health benefits. Another is that consumers are most likely to trust claims in categories they traditionally associate with wellness – and tea is popularly seen as inherently healthy. Combine this “health halo” with an evidence-backed probiotic, and you have the perfect opportunity to quench the growing consumer thirst for healthy hot beverages.
(The author is business development manager, Kerry – proactive health)