You foresee launching a new teas and infusions product range? The objective of this article is to present 4 misconceptions which may jeopardise your design project:
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Raw plant materials come by definition from traceable and transparent supply chains
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Teas and infusions raw materials reflect the major part of my final price
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It's just the aromas that guarantee flavourful infusions
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Paper tea bags are a sign of bad quality
Raw plant materials come by definition from traceable and transparent supply chains
FALSE: Very few companies which supply plants for teas and infusions guarantee a 100% transparent supply chain. Most parties involved mix batches coming from different regions and sell a product without a clearly defined and traced origin, thus cutting you off from all the supply chain marketing.
Guaranteeing traceability of a plant raw material is far from easy. It requires being really involved and lots of time! A transparent procurement supply chain is built over many years. It requires strong commitment and trusting relations with the producer.
Teas and infusions raw materials reflect the major part of my final price
FALSE: Contrary to preconceived ideas, a quality plant represents just 40 to 50% of the box price. To manage the price of your infusion without affecting the quality, it’s possible to focus on other parameters including the choice of paper, cardboard, ink, the number of tea bags per box, the weight…
It's just the aromas that guarantee flavourful infusions
FALSE: A good quality plant, that’s to say recently harvested, well conserved, cut at the last moment is absolutely flavourful. As an example, we’ll cite the freshness of peppermint harvested during the year, the power of locally harvested thyme, the beauty of handpicked and carefully dried cornflowers…
The consumer doesn’t expect a flavoured product but rather a product with taste! If the plant is of high quality and is well selected, it will respond perfectly to this need and will enable you to obtain infusions and teas with a unique and powerful organoleptic impact.
It’s important to remind that flavours must not be used to compensate the lack of quality plants but rather to add a touch of creativity to your mixtures.
Paper tea bags are a sign of bad quality
FALSE: You must not assimilate the container with the content!
This bias was created by major consumer brands who used paper tea bags extensively and offered low quality and highly flavoured plants. The paper tea bag is just the presentation and the content is up to you! You’re free to go against this judgement and to put forward 100% recyclable, biodegradable, free of all plastics microparticles packaging along with ingredients derived from quality sourcing… When used well, the paper tea bag responds to an approach focused on an increasingly reasoned environmental impact.
At Natural Origins, our work is above all directed toward the supply chain; we set up procurement supply chains hand in hand with our producers and we make long term investments in order to offer transparent and quality ingredients. We accompany you in choosing plants and help you imagine a flavourful and balanced formula, adapted to your image. Our expertise involves proposing attractive preparations and also to help you make the good choice on the containers.
To guide you, we invite you to check out the traps to be avoided when designing your infusions in our next article…
Graziella Riant-Dalibard
Head of BU Taste
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