Keep it green for brand success

Forget the fruity infusions - African consumers ready to embrace traditional Chinese tea culture

For many across Europe and the US, no drink is more synonymous with good health than green tea, and with the possible exception of pandas and chopsticks, nothing is more synonymous with China.

Such a strong association is also a key finding of recent research on tea consumption across Africa.

The health-conscious and active consumer is also only too aware of the indisputable health properties of green tea. An abundance of antioxidants and an increase in the metabolic rate are the primary reasons why this product is now readily available outside China. Conservative estimates indicate that Americans alone drink nearly 10 billion servings of green tea each year.

Despite this increasing market presence, however, there remain in Africa precious few, if any, varieties of the original flavors of green tea that are a staple in the diet across China. Instead, the prevailing assumption where the African market is concerned appears to be that green tea has to be mixed with various combinations of fruit in order to suit the African consumer's palate. Hence the brands of "green tea with lemon and lime".

Not just Africa, but most markets outside China appear to have assumed that fruit-flavored green tea will be preferred. No finer example of this obsession can be found than Nestea, a joint venture between Nestle and Coca Cola.

Claiming to have responded to consumer demand and recent industry research findings, Nestea recently reformulated its lemon and diet lemon flavors and introduced a green tea line featuring peach and diet peach flavors.

Independent industry research shows that green tea beverages across Europe accounted for more than 80 percent of the growth in the ready-to-drink tea category during the past year.

But why this obsession with fruit-flavored green tea in most places outside China? Do Africans, for example, really desire this fruit infusion? Or have producers outside China overlooked an incredible market opportunity for the real thing?

China continues to grow in attraction as a tourist venue for Europeans, Americans and Africans with a multitude of magnificent historical sites. But most tourists would not deem any tourist trip to China complete without a hearty consumption of typical Chinese food and of course green tea.

No tourist anywhere in China will refuse the smooth, delicate original aroma of the many varieties of Chinese green tea, such as Oolong and Longjing. Tourists traveling across China will also place traditional Chinese green tea very near the top of their checklist of "must buy" products to take home for friends and family.

It is highly likely that African and European producers of green tea have, inexplicably, not even considered the possibility of simply replicating the green tea flavors found in China. Ethnocentrism and the dominance of local and national tea brands across Africa and Europe probably account for such a monumental oversight.

What the African and European green tea industry also fail to appreciate is the almost inseparable association between green tea and China, and ancient China in particular. It is this association that could add further to the appeal of green tea across the world.

Ancient China is viewed very positively all over the world and, according to my research over many years into "brand China", this image is often associated with peace, harmony and family.

Some well-known tea brands such as the UK's Twinings have for some time opted for a brand of green tea without any fruit-flavor infusion. Most of the UK supermarkets also provide their own brand of green tea.

However, even though the taste resembles the typical flavor found in China, no understanding of brand building and suitable brand association appears evident.

Brand associations that provide an image of ancient China would surely add to any green tea producer's brand. They could simply include scenic views and related images associated with ancient, rural China.

African green tea producers could also introduce two-tier branding strategies, maintaining the corporate brand name, such as National Brands, South Africa's leading tea brand with a 40 percent market share in 2012, but also inserting a subtle Chinese product brand name.

Finally, African producers and retailers need to understand that it not just consumption of the green tea product itself that African consumers increasingly value, but the typical green tea consumption experience. Complementary products such as a typical Chinese tea set should also be sold as a vital accompaniment.

African consumers, perhaps even more than US and European ones, are becoming far more aware and knowledgeable of China's rich culture and historical heritage. Sino-African trade continues at a pace and can only increase further knowledge.

The message, therefore, is clear to existing and future entrants to Africa's burgeoning green tea industry: green tea is green tea and firmly associated with China.

The first African green tea producer to build a brand based around typical Chinese flavors and attach associations of ancient China will undoubtedly achieve the healthiest brand image and market share.

The author is a visiting professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and a senior lecturer on marketing at Southampton Solent University's School of Business.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 11/29/2013 page8)