What proportion of your business goes through the cash & carry/delivered wholesale trade?

Our wholesale business is significant to us and has held its own given the challenges the tea sector has faced in recent years, such as the decline in the overall tea category from black tea sales. We continue to hold our number one position in impulse with over a third of the overall volume share.

Are you making any investments that will benefit the trade over the coming months?

We work collaboratively with each of our customers, offering bespoke support including marketing tools and collateral to help cash & carries and delivered wholesalers maximise their tea sales – this ranges from category management advice and insight to PoS.

We recently reviewed our promotional strategy and have introduced additional promoted price-marked packs in order to help wholesalers and retailers deliver value to the end user.

We are also focusing heavily on NPD to try to curb the decline in the tea category by reducing the reliance on black tea and introducing new flavours. While everyday black tea still accounts for 60% of all consumer spend out of home, new sectors of green tea and fruit & herbal infusions are growing at a combined rate of 6.6% (Nielsen).

What are the key merchandising principles C&C depot managers should follow when managing a tea fixture?

We have some exciting developments in the pipeline, which will take advantage of the increasing demand for healthy products. We will also be focusing on the growing trend towards personalisation and new flavours among the younger generation.