Tea continued to capitalize on a positive year in both the bagged and loose leaf tea segment as well as the ready-to-drink (RTD) segment. RTD showed the most growth at 8.5 percent for more than $2.3 billion in sales, according to SymphonyIRI Group, Chicago, for the 52 weeks ending May 15 in U.S. supermarkets, drug stores, gas and convenience stores and mass merchandise outlets, excluding Wal-Mart. Bagged and loose leaf tea sales experienced a 1.8 percent increase for more than $782.5 million, the market research firm’s data states.
Health claims, such as organic, remained a popular positioning for new bagged and loose leaf tea as well as RTD products launched in 2010. Of the 1,966 new bagged and loose leaf tea products launched in the United States in 2010, 20.9 percent carried an organic claim, according to Innova Market Insights, Duiven, The Netherlands. For RTD teas, of the 157 new products in the United States last year, 43.3 percent were labeled as organic, the market research firm reports.