Brits get the taste for fruity tea, survey finds

An increasing number of British tea drinkers are swapping English Breakfast for something rather more fruity.

That's one finding of a new survey by research firm Mintel, which identified a 10 per cent increase in sales of fruit and herbal teas being purchased in the UK over the past two years. Sales of the more traditional English Breakfast variety however have fallen by 1.5 per cent to £463m.

According to a report by the Daily Mail, sales of green tea have really taken off over the past 24 months. Mintel said tea drinkers spent £22m on green tea bags last year, up from £12m in 2009. It's estimated that one in eight people now drink the beverage each week.

Jonny Forsyth, senior drinks analyst at Mintel, said today's young tea drinkers differ markedly from previous generations.

He said: "They have a much more adventurous attitude towards drinking tea, enjoying the variety of flitting between standard English breakfast, speciality and herbal tea rather than just sticking to one type; and they are keen to try new tea brands and new flavours."

It seems standard tea drinkers are not too keen on switching – 71 per cent told Mintel they thought the taste of herbal/fruit tea was inferior to standard varieties.

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