British Tea sales appear to be booming in the place you might least suspect – China. According to UK government figures, British tea companies have seen exports skyrocket. Sales to Hong Kong have nearly tripled last year while exports to the rest of China have nearly doubled. The reason for the rapid rise in sales is a blend of fashion and changing tastes.
In the traditional tea parlours of London there's a change brewing. Rising numbers of those taking to the UK's favourite tipple are from China. The country's young and educated travelling to try new tastes.
"What we're seeing today in China is an opening up to the world, a fascination with cultural activities around the world and what we're doing now is providing an opportunity for the travelling Chinese to discover and enjoy the English interpretation of the afternoon tea ceremony," Whittard of Chelsea CEO Mark Dunhill said.
That they're doing that here and that sales of English tea are rising in China is remarkable: China after all tea's very birthplace.
What makes the increase in sales of English tea to China even more remarkable is perhaps the troubled relationship the two countries have had over the drink. It triggered two wars and here we have an example of English theft – Robert Fortune's blend. The man snuck into China and Stole away the roots of Chinese tea plants.
In the 1800's the British took their tea to the Empire… from Kenya here to Sri Lanka they created vast tea plantations. Tea quickly becoming the UK's national drink and, as demonstrated by this tourism video, promoted as quintessentially English.
In part explaining its popularity where the story first began in China.
For Britain's tea industry bosses fashion is opportunity. Whittard of Chelsea and China's Alibaba online sales platform together linking up with China's young travellers.
"Those who are exploring the world at the moment, coming in greater and greater numbers as tourists to the UK and elsewhere, they are naturally very comfortable transacting over the Internet," Dunhill said.
And as they do they'll be proving once again that imitation remains the sincerest form of flattery.
