Tea Shops and Cafes

Cafes come in all shapes and sizes.  They serve quite different markets depending upon their location and style.  Some are very traditional.  Some are no-nonsense, comfortable, unpretentious community cafes.  Others are up-market tea lounges, more like a bar than a traditional tea shop.  All have their special requirements.  We are experienced in dealing with all of them.

Local community cafes

Everyone loves a proper caf.  Customers come in for an all-day breakfast, a cup of tea, and the newspaper.  Generally they sell more tea than coffee.  Often there is no choice of teas, and they serve the usual supermarket brands.  You probably buy Tetley tea bags in 1100s or 960s from the cash and carry regularly.  We have 2 standard catering tea bag blends, Blends "X" and "Y", which we make ourselves in Portsmouth.  They come in both 1-cup and 2-cup sizes.  They are superior in quality to your current brand.  Our existing customers tell us that when they start serving our tea, they receive many favourable comments from regulars and new customers alike.  You will be pleasantly surprised that usually people pay less when they switch to us.  And it will save another trip to the cash and carry.  When you switch your supply to us, we can also supply a few extra varieties such as Earl Grey (extremely popular), decaffeinated tea and peppermint.  Many others are of course available too, and we will happily supply a small pack for you to test out on your customers.

Trendy yet simple, rustic type cafes

You are probably very busy on a Sunday morning with long breakfasts.  Many of your customers are younger professional people who want to try more than the basic cuppa. You may even have or want a quite extensive range.  What I suggest for you is a better quality catering blend with lots of rich, full flavour, plus a few extras such as Earl Grey, Decaf, a herbal and a green tea. None of these will break the bank so you can expand your current offer without spending a lot of money.  If you're not doing this yet you are probably missing out on business and customer loyalty.  Once people find out about your increased choice they usually tell their friends.  Don't go mad.  Keep it simple, cheap, low risk and go one step at a time, always focusing on good, reliable quality.

Traditional Tea Shops

Until recently, the traditional tea shop was the last custodian of the tradition of serving loose leaf tea in a tea pot.  Happily, this practice is enjoying a resurgence, but the Tea Shop remains the custodian of a long tradition.  We would be delighted to supply fine loose teas.  A large range or a small focussed selection of 3 - 6 teas?  It depends on your customers and your own inclinations, but increasingly people are excited to see a good variety.  Please ask our advice specific to your own business.

Most traditional tea shops command tremendous loyalty.  You can increase your profits by introducing a House Blend which you can sell in packaging for your customers to take home.  And staff training to ensure that each and every cup or pot is correctly brewed is vital.  We can advise you on this free of charge, or we can come and conduct the training ourselves for a fee.