Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/59523
THE WHOLE LEAF continued from page 69 midpoint," he says. "If we have a Ceylon black tea we like at boiling water, three minutes and three grams per cup, our package would say: 'Steep one rounded teaspoon with boiling water for two to four minutes.'" Also vital, Waddington says, is to keep messaging uniform across all the teas you offer. "The same phrasing, the same struc- ture, the same color, graphics, the same location on the package— I think consistency is important," he says. WHERE ARE YOU SAYING IT? Every product has a "sweet spot" on its label. Granted, while customers won't follow every point of your instructions 100 per- cent of the time, you can increase the odds through a few simple concepts. Keep wording short, direct and in a clearly defined area. The front of the package is good, but as shoppers, we're also "trained" to look on the side. Consider, too, the implications of right versus left: Restaurant menu designers know that the customer's eye usually goes to the top right first, so they're likely to place their specials and best sellers in that area. People also tend to turn a package to the right side first when they want a closer look. Keep the value of that piece of real estate in mind; it might be an excellent place to discuss brewing, especially if you have specialized instructions. Also consider placement in two locations: Perhaps something quick and sweet on the front, with further detail on the side. Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab recently published a study regarding the placement of health information on packaging. It found best results for sales and retention of knowledge were from a very short message on the front paired with a longer explana- tion on the back. That method could be leveraged for tea-brewing instructions. Trench of Adagio says a challenge Ineeka faced was that the detailed story of the tea's origin would sometimes crowd out the brewing instructions. How can you prevent sacrificing either story or preparation? Consider reaching out beyond the label. 70 Fresh Cup Magazine freshcup.com Wright of Gongfu Girl writes, "In some very unusual cases, like purple orthodox tea from Kenya, I wrote a fairly long blog post about how to brew the tea, and I decided how to brew it by experimentation," she says. "In that case, there are no established precedents. Google won't help people figure it out. That amount of info wouldn't be appropriate on packaging, but I give buyers the link to it." Kim of Rishi Tea is also in favor of leading customers to addi- tional information online. "A new communicating tool that we have started to utilize is video tutorials," she says. "We have created one-to-two-minute brewing videos for certain types of teas with certain kinds of teaware and included them on our Web site." TEA DIALOGUE FOR SELLERS AND CONSUMERS Aside from providing a service, well-thought-out brew instruc- tions can go a long way toward relationship building. If you create a clean design in relatable, friendly language—and it's unique to your brand—your customers will feel like they're part of some- thing special, which will then foster that ever-elusive brand loyalty. Waddington of TeaSource, which also offers tea-education classes, notes: "In our tea workshops, we make a point of using the pub- lished steeping suggestions when we prepare a tea. When customers see us use them, the instructions gain credibility." In the end, you should aim for a clear message that teaches customers how to customize your product for the best results. Customization is a big selling point for tea—it's a way of com- peting with the personally crafted coffee beverages people get every morning from skilled baristas. Through grocery demos, retail classes and Web videos, the benefit of brewing education goes beyond sales and marketing. If the cup doesn't turn out quite how they expected, customers will realize it's because of something in their control, not because the tea was inferior. In earning that trust, you can get customers to go on the journey with you anywhere.