Delicious and daring new drinks range packs a punch

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With roots in 1970s California, a new tea brand Good Earth has landed in the UK grabbing the attention and repeat purchase of younger, health aware and planet savvy drinkers.

A good fit with a balanced lifestyle Good Earth’s portfolio  includes 8 variants of  biodegradable tea bags (RSP £3.29 for 15 bags); 4 loose teas (RSP £4.29) and for the chiller cabinet 3 variants of organic, bubbly Kombucha (RSP £2.30).

The new range of Good Earth fruit and herbal and Kombucha teas has real potential for retail sales as well as out of home locations and specialist health food outlets and smaller boutique outlets.

Born to be different in look, taste and values, each sip of Good Earth is packed with natural, bold flavours and on trend ingredients. The teas are ethically and sustainably sourced and its Kombucha 100% organic.

As the original trailblazer of fruit and herbal in California, the brand has kept well ahead of the curve in its respect and response to the environment. 88% of consumers want brands that can help them make a difference* and every sip of Good Earth is a sip of positivity giving back to the planet.

Sustainability and environmental values are at the heart of the brand, all packaging is recyclable or 100% biodegradable and the equivalent of 1% of gross sales is contributed to environmental non-profit causes through the 1% for the Planet initiative.

Consumers are changing the way that they make their food and drink choices. A good fit with lifestyle and a brand’s values are on a par with the quality of taste and experience. 89% of millennials feel untouched by current food and drink advertising**, yet the scope to offer something new to draw the under 45s to the sector is huge.

A third of the nation looking to reduce alcohol intake is benefiting sales of teas and healthier drinks. Smaller independent retailers have seen a 37.5% volume growth in fruit and herbal and 32% growth in speciality teas and 19% growth in rooibos tea in the last quarter (AC Nielsen 12 weeks to 13 June 2020).

Whilst the numbers buying tea are on the up overall, cold drinks are the fastest growing drinks sector. The new entrant of Kombucha, a gently bubbling tea, fermented with live cultures is already worth £8m in the UK and growing fast.

The Good Earth range is being launched from the stable of beverage giant Tata Consumer Products and its entrée supported by a £3million programme of activity.

Reflecting the profile of its target audience and the current launch environment, digital plays an important part of this. With 4.5 million consumers in its sights, and online ads and social influencers on board, the word on Good Earth is spreading fast. Already, with a strong weighting of 25-34s, consumers are engaging positively with the  brand, with many going on to buy & share their experience with others on Social platforms.

For stores and wholesalers, a range of disruptive marketing materials from entrance banners, aisle fins, FSDUs and tailored on shelf media is available to bring the brand to life, grab attention and drive traffic to this exciting new range.

“This is a bold and ambitious launch,” says Tata Consumer Products marketing director Sinead McAleese “These are popular drinks sectors for younger and health aware shoppers and Good Earth is a vibrant, planet friendly brand with upbeat standout appeal, add to that on trend ingredients and a rich pipeline of more to come, it’s exactly what’s needed to perk up tea and draw in younger drinkers.”

The Good Earth range is available now through specialist wholesaler Tree of Life. Selected SKUs made their debut in Sainsbury’s last month as part of the Future Brands initiative which nurtures challenger brands with unique and innovative ranges.

Pukka joins national campaign to remove Facebook advertising

Pukka Herbs has added its support to a campaign to stop Facebook advertising in a bid to protest against hate speech and racism.

Pukka joins other brands including Innocent Drinks and COOK, to support the Stop Hate For Profit campaign by pausing paid advertising on Facebook platforms and persuading more brands to join them.

The brands join a growing list of thousands of companies around the world actively removing advertising on Facebook and Instagram in July in protest against hate speech and racism on the social media platforms.

With a combined Facebook and Instagram following of more than 900,000, Facebook helps these household names advertise and reach potential customers. In the absence of advertising on Facebook, by the end of July, the brands will have missed out on a combined reach of over 11m people.

Beyond standing in solidarity with the Stop Hate for Profit campaign, these brands say they are united by their shared passion for using business as a force for good as a Certified B Corporation.

Instead of investing in social media during July, Innocent drinks, Pukka Herbs and COOK are using this time to rally additional support for Stop Hate For Profit from the rest of the B Corp community, which also rely on Facebook and Instagram as an acquisition tool.

Neil Fox, Marketing Director at Pukka Herbs, commented: “We are proud to support the Stop Hate for Profit campaign. As a B Corp, we believe we have a responsibility to use our influence to drive positive change. We are talking to other B Corps too to build our collective voice to inspire the necessary change we hope will come. And we hope other businesses outside of the B Corp community are inspired to put purpose before profit and join this campaign.”

Planet Organic reopens all stores after securing Covid-19 secure status

Planet Organic has announced it has achieved Covid-19 safe status to allow it to reopen all of its 15 locations.

The retail chain has revealed that in light of restructuring its offer overnight to meet an increase in demand for its organic food, supplements and vitamins both in-store and online, Planet Organic called on the support of Food Alert to provide food hygiene and health and safety advice.

Following a rigorous site-by-site virtual auditing process by Food Alert, Planet Organic and its recently acquired As Nature Intended sites are now COVID-19 Standard Certified.

Planet Organic’s Food Services Director, Caroline Ottoy, commented: “Like everyone else in retail, our business was turned upside down overnight. Demand for our healthy products rocketed and we had to make sure that we were well positioned to cope and look after the health and safety of our teams and customers.

“The certification scheme has been well received, not only by our 450 employees who know we have done everything we can to make their workplace as safe as possible, but also by our customers who are confident that we are delivering the highest standards possible.”

To gain Food Alert’s COVID-19 safe standard, Planet Organic undertook a detailed risk assessment that covered all the touchpoints that need to be cleaned to the type of sanitiser to use, managing deliveries of stock safely and a staff sign-in questionnaire.

Ottoy continued: “What I found surprising was that Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was not the most important control, but all the steps that we should take in terms of deep cleaning, physical distancing and task checklists to keep people safe, with PPE being the final link in the chain. We have invested heavily in inserting bespoke till screens and floor vinyls with face masks worn where physical distancing isn’t possible.”

Summer beauty boost

Summer brings with it a distinct shift in terms of the type of beauty products people buy. But with little in the way of summer holidays, and a potential tightening on spending, how can natural and organic retailers adapt to meet current needs?

For every negative news story about the economy, we see a positive. On the one hand, we are likely to see a tightening on spending as the UK approaches recession, yet within the natural and organic market, we are seeing positives.

By way of example, the British Retail Consortium has reported that total UK sales have decreased in comparison to last year, due to continued shop closures caused by the UK’s lockdown; over the three months leading up to May, non-food in-store sales dropped by some 50.3 per cent in total. However, according to the BRC, despite the amount of goods sold in Great Britain falling by 5.9 per cent overall, food sales saw a large increase by 8.7 per cent like-for-like with online sales and supermarket spending also saw some pick-up. Within our market, we have also seen reports that sales of organic food and drink have shown a rise during the Coronavirus lockdown, and according to recent research, the pandemic is also raising demand for natural ingredients from the personal care industry; according to Ecovia Intelligence, the use of ingredients such as tea tree oil, lemon myrtle and aloe vera in cosmetic and personal care products is increasing, whilst consumers are buying natural and organic products to improve their personal immunity. Ecovia Intelligence also noted that demand is expected to remain buoyant after the current crisis.

So, where does this leave the natural and organic beauty sector? There’s no doubt summer spending habits will be altered this year with the dearth of summer holidays, but are there still opportunities to grow your sales in this area?

Data reveals demand for organic is at three-year high

New data has shown organic sales have seen their highest growth in the last three years.

According to the latest Nielsen data, since January 2020, organic sales in supermarkets have seen the highest growth since December 2016. It was also found that organic food and drink sales year on year recorded growth of 6.1 per cent, almost double the growth of non-organic food and drink products (3.2 per cent) for the 52 weeks ending May 30, 2020. Nielsen data shows an 18.7 per cent increase in organic sales in the 12 weeks ending May 30, which includes 10 weeks of lockdown, compared to 14.2 per cent increase in non-organic food and drink*.

The Soil Association pointed out that this comes at a time when external events have fast-tracked already changing shopper behaviours towards personal health, transparency and integrity; a YouGov survey commissioned by the Food Farming and Countryside Commission and The Food Foundation revealed that 42 per cent of people feel the crisis has made them value food more.

These changing behaviours seem set to support the organic sector in exceeding the end of 2020 market value of £2.5bn projected by Soil Association Certification, with the sector now on track to hit the £2.6bn mark. Products which have seen exceptional demand and outperforming are beef (+15.3 per cent), eggs (+14.8 per cent), preserves and spreads (+18.3 per cent) and sparkling wine (+47 per cent**).

Finn Cottle, Trade Consultant at Soil Association Certification, commented: “As this crisis emerged, and food was placed firmly in the spotlight, it became apparent that consumer habits were shifting: from less frequent shopping trips, to supporting local and independent stores, online shopping to receiving weekly deliveries of organic fruit and veg. What seems clear is that at a time when quality and safety are of importance for consumers, organic ‘stands out,’ with its benefits of transparency and integrity.

“Despite the likelihood of tighter budgets, shoppers are choosing quality, good taste, and ethical options. Sustainability and protecting the environment remains high on their wish list – and with so many of us finding nature a vital source of respite in these difficult times – citizens seem to be making more planet-centric choices.

“Organic brands, retailers and businesses have a huge part to play in reinforcing the credentials of organic – as a farming system ‘working with nature’ to restore goodness in the land, with a positive impact on personal health and wellness, and our environment. With more people than ever understanding this connection, I think the sector has a lot to feel confident about.”