158. Brewing a Legacy: The Twinings Story with Stephen Twining
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备忘录 的 听 友 们 大家好， 练 英文 的 机会 又 来了。 备忘录 很 关注 的 一个 话题 是 品牌。 在 大环境 充满 挑战 的 当下， 我 对于 那些 经历 过更 巨大 危机， 但是 生存 下来 而且 依然 屹立不摇 的 品牌 充满 了 好奇， 我 好奇 他们 成功 的 秘诀 是什么？ 我 很 幸运 在 英国 的 时候 采访 到了 已经 有 三百多年 历史 的 tWinnies 川宁 茶 公司 的 品牌 大使 Steven 川 林先生， 他是 川宁 家族 的 第十代 成员。 在 这 期 节目 当中， Steven 跟 我们 分享 了 川宁 三百多年 不平凡 的 历程， 我们 还 探讨 了 川宁 对 中国市场 的 战略， 以及 年轻 消费者 族群 当中 不断 演变 的 趋势。 史蒂文 不仅 提供了 对 川宁 品牌 韧性 和 传承 的 洞见， 还 强调 了 在 品牌 创新 的 过程 当中 保持 品牌价值 和 相关性 的 重要性。 无论 你是 茶叶 的 爱好者、 创业者， 还是 希望 从 历史 当中 寻找 答案 的 人， 这 一期 节目 都将 为你 带来 很多 宝贵 的 启示。 我们 依旧 准备 了 音频 的 文字稿 和 翻译 稿， 可以在 备忘录 加 公众 号 该 题 推 文 当中 获取。 最后 我们 感谢 twining 才 为 我们的 听 友 准备 了 他们的 新品， 川宁 蜂蜜 味 路易 波士 花草茶 和 川宁 柠檬 干姜 花草茶。 我们会 在 11月13号 小宇宙 平台 本期 节目 评论 区 当中 选出 十条 评论， 随机 送出 新品， 一共 10份， 期待 你的 收听 和 留言。

Thank you so much for being on my show. When I, when I first contacted anna, I wasn't expecting a reply and I wasn't expecting anyone with a twins last name to be my kiss. You're the ten generation of tWinnies, right?

I have that great british.

oh my god. So i'm so flatter and so so honor. Thank you so much. Well, being on the show.

thank you for inviting me.

right? So the purpose of doing this series is ready to learn from brand like twins with so many and more than three hundred years of history and then you been through so many global events and crisis, but still standing very strong right? There must be a secret uh, recipe or key to the success that you survive all these global events and crisis still doing so strongly globally because china at the moment is going through their first cycle.

And a lot of the brands are struggling. And a lot of the brands when they first started or have the aspiration of be more than one hundred years old, right? But the first cycle, they are already finding IT very difficult. So I thought I wanted to start this theory so that we can learn from repeatable brands and historical brand that yourself. So this is the person of background。

excEllent. Uh, so I guess the question is that is, how do we get to be three hundred years old?

Exactly how did you start, do you? How did your family start?

So yes, so we need to go back to who we think ten generations before he started in tea, the family were in the whole trade in the west of the country, over in glasses and moster show. And the old trade was going through a major recession. So Thomas, his father, decided to move the whole family to london, his older brother and his other siblings.

And he would then get in the apprenticeship as a weave and Carry on the family decision of being in the world trade. He did that for a short period time, but IT obvious didn't to him, and then got a job with an east indian emerge in the east india company, where they only had him not on trade with east. Whether IT was so good to was they had one, and he was working for one of their customers in london.

And this customer, Thomas, to bus. I was buying very small quantities of tea, and that's no doubt where Thomas learned about this wonderful stuff. But the age of thirty one, he wanted to be his own boss.

And three hundred, three hundred and fifty years ago in the city of london, the financial distance disease that was london, there were, we estimate, over two thousand. And coffee has. They were the rich, because if Peter and I were going to meet to do business, we didn't have offices.

So we needed the coffee. Has your business back up of coffee? And certainly they were places where you ladies will never come. Because by this time of the day, if we felt so fine, we might be handing a brand deal, IQ or whatever.

And therefore, if we stayed too long, a lot of men stage to the early hours following morning to say a behavior might be a little impact. Therefore, you is lady, will be terribly shot. Therefore, the ladies imposed, self imposed, but they just wouldn't go into coffee.

First stop. But right? Thomas buys the coffee house just outside the city of london, in the city of west minter.

It's called coffee house is not necessarily only coffee, right?

Was they were sometimes called the pending universities because the coffee house owner would they would have different things to attract different client. So they weren't all competing. So there was one that specialized didn't being incentive for artists.

The lord's insurance market started as coffee has because mister loyd would list out at the ships that were going to be sAiling and the cargo is the Carrying. So the insurance underwriting made in his coffee has drinking his coffee tip in business. So they all had their little speciality.

So but a lot of competition, you can imagine. So Thomas chose to sell fine quality t something you'd learned about, which was different, as well as coffee in his coffee house. Now tea had really been introduced to this country, and sixty and sixty two, there were tiny amounts before that.

When are king Charles married a portuguese princess? And the porch discover tea well before the brits. And SHE was an absolute t level. And so he brought to each other another court.

And it's a bit like the kate effect, what kate does yesterday, we wanted to do to j and so the wealthy immediate you started, but wanted to buy. T so he became the preserve of wealthy and our craft ladies. So here is Thomas selling tea in a coffee.

Has that the lady can't come into because he wants to buy, take home. So IT to I guess SHE has to wait outside her Carried sending the male seven and the penny drops with Thomas. And he's obviously reason is successful because within the period of eleven years, he's able to buy two Jason properties, which he opens the world's first dry chain coffee shop.

Have you been .

to our shop in london? Yeah, okay, great. So in in sixteen .

string these days.

two, sixteen, seven in those days, IT was a golden line deavor court because the entrance wasn't on the strap that that didn't material until seventeen eighty seven. So yes, now he's got to shop where lady can enter into a respectability. And his reputation grows for the tea.

He distant themselves from the coffin house. He let somebody else manage running. And so it's on the site, separate ownership.

Because he, the ladies, didn't like coffee houses. They had a social political agenda. Coffee hazes close down.

Because the husband spent too long there, too much money there. I drank much there. So Thomas was, now, if you're like a fully flag t retail out.

He then realized that his skill was not as a retailer, so he didn't expand the business by acting more around london, around the U. K. He decided to wholesales please to other coffee houses, to especially retailers ers. And that was his business model. That still, like business model.

was IT called twice tears already by.

yes, IT always comes with the golden lam because didn't stress, so just reflects the and we think the line we can't prove this, but we think he was playing teeth in the monarch of the day. And that is the legal beast and therefore that connection, but that speculation. So yes, he would call itself Thomas training team merchants.

right?

Okay, yes. But what he set out once he had made that big step was to established a reputation for quality. So he he wanted do one thing, one thing really well, buy and blend. I mean, mix nothing without office, mixing different things together to get consistency of taste. And that's what he wants his reputation to be in.

That the time my philosophy, so we buy different ties, mix them when you have your cup of your lady dry, or your engineer IT always chase the same because that's the flavor when you go. H, yes, that's lovely. Then you want more of IT so that he's all red on detroit.

That's what we do really well and that's why we have these special people go master tea tastes. And yeah, so like it's simple philosophy, do one thing. Do one thing really well, other tea countries in this country thought that owning the shipping would be a good idea because he cuts out of cost if your ship sinks you like out of business because you probably haven't showed IT for enough.

So through all sorts of change of circumcision, two companies diversified into other things. All the ship became the main part of the business, shipping company, company. And we, just, after doing one thing and one thing really well, buying a mixing of fine quality teeth.

winning insistence on quality, I think still very much stands today. So and I think I don't know, hundreds of years ago, Thomas and and Daniel and then mary, yes, right. That saw Daniel wife, yes.

After Daniel passed away, mary actually took over. yes. And I think he went through or the company went through a bit of the economic decisional crisis as well back then.

And there was sort of a tea crisis when so you just to explain how mary came into the business, SHE was the daughter of a merchant. So yes, when her husband died, he made Daniel made provision for her. But I should go back to down because he stated the second great tradition, our business, which were selling t overseas, control the quality for one plays.

But yes, you know, customers are around the world. When he died, he made provision. He had a business partner who is going to run the business until his sons were old enough to come into business and take over.

And i'll see it's sufficient money for his widow to live on and educate their children because they were quite small. And SHE was having one of that. He took up the agreement and got rid of the business partner, said, i'm doing this, which is fantastic.

Yeah, what a lady. And yes, so at this point in time, t was tax to the tune of hundred nineteen percent. 嗯， because there were various lobby groups in this country that didn't welcome tea, and they were powerful lobby groups.

So yes, that that made legitimate tea very expensive. We estimate, while he was in charge, that two thirds consumed in this country avoided that tax by being smug LED IT. But the smugger was warned in IT for the love of t, they would purely need for the money, and they would pay people to find dry twins, dry leaves, and all things will be there, added to the tea.

So a kilo t becomes a kilo and half or two kilo as A T. But you can imagine the quality was awful. But no, he start to husband in the world's philosophy of quality, quality, quality.

And saw I saw that very difficult time just by being single minded and focused. And he had enough good customers who could still afford IT. But what you don't compromise on his his quality because you you can do that once.

备忘录 11月 要 来 成都 和 听 友 们 在线 下 见面 了， 我 很 期待 见到 松弛 巴士 的 大家。 在 这次 线下 见面 的 机会 当中， 除了 想 和 听 友 们 面对面 互动 和 交流， 我 也会 邀请 到 神秘嘉宾 一起 聊聊 我们 大家 都 关注 的 话题。 见面会 的 时间 定在 11月9号 周六 下午 2点到6点， 地点 是在 多元 社群 聚集地 此地 side park， 此地 C Y park。 大家 可以 通过 show note 中的 活动 链接 报名 参加。 非常 期待 见到 备忘录 在 成都 和 大 西部 的 听 友 们， 我们 11月9号 见 喽。

But that's unusual because of mine. I said china is going through a bit of dip by the economy and a lot of business struggle yeah and a lot of the consumers also struggle because there someone got laid off take uh so they don't have the kind of money that they have before to buy stuff. So there's a lot of Price cut, a lot Price.

Yes, I was reading your history. Imagine mary back then was going through probably what we are going through in china as well. Yeah, but he stuck with the quality and SHE .

wouldn't compromise. yes.

And do you think that's very much still the tradition of this company? And then that's how that's why you survive more than three hundred years.

So IT takes ages to build a reputation and moments to lose IT. There was a famous chain, jews in this country, cea, to at the annual general meeting and said, some of my jury is cheaper in the Marks and spending sandwich and that was IT. He just called themselves out and blue his business apart so yeah you you can go down market once but that's IT takes years and years and years to to establish that represent equality and you don't like .

your customers that yeah and training has been through so many generation. You're the tenth generation um of course that this .

was acquired .

by the food in nineteen sixty four but before then IT very much still run by the family oh yeah.

there are several .

things about this business that I find amazing. First of all, you know the two sixteen strands, three that's the first he room is still very much exist today.

would tell me the first dry in coffee shop in the world, because I always see the tea shops in china wave millennia go. But the combination of the two, that was unusual. And so, yes, that was a world first. yeah.

And among entrance, you got this golden lion with just two chinese men, yes, sitting next to the lions. I D, almost like guarding the quality of the reputation of the company. And then your logo, the twining's logo, has been around, I don't, for hundreds of years. You are generation when they took over the business. They probably want to change something right, mark, their states never um when .

you get something .

right and IT .

still looks relevant IT doesn't look old fashion IT doesn't it's move with the times because I think if you would do something a classic then you don't need to apply with IT and he he got IT right. And yes, the only thing is Steven twin and then english, the team of mr. Training becomes tWinnies with the posty.

He didn't like the post, just don't think you look good. So take IT that that's when the brand name training was establish. So yes, in some packs around the world, actually everyone's moving back to the original, but we've curved and we've one different things, but the strand store has always maintained that logo.

And yes, I was that the golden land was put out because Thomas is reasonable time with the girl land he had won. That was sitting like a dog, you like sitting out. So he laid IT down. And the two figures represent the trade we were in because those days, india total.

But how do they defend off the pressure from maybe other family members or other shareholders? Maybe about you, maybe we should .

change a little. Mary's son, Richard joined and I always put so he's the third generation and I always have him down as the first of the volunteers. I'm sure Daniel probably was a volunteered, but I can't prove that.

I know Richard was. So he joined his mother in the business, and that also became part of the the way that the company in the family think i'm here because I love tea. My sister and my brother are tea drinks, but they don't love tea.

Yes, so his elder brother actually went. Daniel was still alive. His elder brother had been brought into the tea business and had no affinity.

When I was, no, didn't exciting, didn't get him out of bed. He went off and became a very successful pleasures. Tics scholar, religious scholar and I think, but have a composer too. But yeah, yeah, but that's what excited him. So I as a child was brought up, if you're lucky enough to find something in life, to get you out of bed and excites you, you know, do a day's working in your life. And i'm very fortunate I still to do a day as well.

And every generation twins will have such person.

You keep your fingers cross that there is in the next generation, somebody who allows to. So, yeah, so so Richie was first form. He loves.

Have we found the next? Have we found the eleven generation? Very pleased today we have yes, so not not one of my children, but my oldest of view joined us very recently. He's not on sight today, but he's in the tea department where we just were i'm going to be become a much tea taste so yeah and the most important gets about a .

bit IT yeah the business was acquired by british ated british food, right A B, F, in thousand and sixty four, but the business was still very much Operating independently.

Yes.

um you are the brand ambassador. Yes, twins, you wanted to do the brand ambassador for the brand, or this is A B F. Wanted to have such person and from the family as well.

I think the answer is yes to both. I've never asked A, B, F the question directly, but certainly what my father was a member of the company when he joined in ninety six, six, six member the company, they were very team to retain his services is my understanding. And he in those days, sixty four, he was in developing our export business.

So the reason where an endeavor, hampshire, we obvious ve a london company for all the time before, even though we outgrew the strand shot, we had offices in the city, in warehouse, in east end and factory, the greater and the best, if you're like the mayor of london, what was trying to get industry out of london so that eight, three up space to build houses and to make the air quality Better, all those sorts of things. And we were offered three or four options, and we chose. And because of south hampton, which is five kilometers down the road, because our export business was growing, expansion.

Ally, and so yes, so we moved five hundred people, which only two families didn't like life outside london, moved back, was in hr terns. Hugely successful move, it's hard to imagine. But we were the first of office building time factory on on this.

What is now a huge, and yes, not been happening here ever, ever, ever since. So so yes, but yeah, going back to your question, yes, I believe I associated bridge food very keen to retain the services of my father, and they didn't know. But at the age of eight, I decided that I was going to be eight.

Yeah, that's when I did my first taste to to my classmates were doing a geographical ject school, the subject in india, the britz can't talk about india with that, talking about the tea. And as IT happened, the geography master had been to school with my dad, so knew what that did, and asked him for world charts so we can study the the country, india. And dad being dead, he sent a whole lot of t animals as well.

So at the end of term, the master had worked out much Better to meet in the front of the class, presenting to my classmates, tes around me in the clouds, asking him questions you might not be able to answer. So I do a presentation to to my classroom mates, made them have a tea tasting, and their eyes were literally on stocks so wide, I wow to them. They hear the word t and their parents were, say, I, should we have a coverity? And I would come out of the t but would come this dark Brown liquid.

And they did add milk to IT. And that was two. One they want drink adds up to an eight year that's quite logical.

Uh, and now t sometimes we got Green tea, we got the dealings, we got the lungs. And there are different colors. They all taste different in. Wow, this this was an amazing experience. And that for me, when the as the english say, when the penny drop, when I realized that A I had a hit start, I already knew something about something that's good. And be the significance of the name suddenly started to swell around my head, and I did was a very harsh judgment.

But if my peer group, my classmates, some of who are you, were smart on the me and some same judge, what have you if they didn't know about to, then probably the rest of world didn't know about to. Now he's unfair that, you know, should never know about that much detail and tea. But if he was the thought that gave me that that inspiration to go right, i'm going to teach the all about tea.

I've got a great headstart and something. I've got a fantastic name. Let's go. And so in that men, I said, this is what I want to do. Oh my god, but in training we talk about quickly careers.

So I actually started as the shopping system in in the shop in number and managed IT for a short while and enjoy our sales for stammark ting unt tasting. One stage I could run a tea bag machine. The teeb back technology moved on that how much sure I could so you .

work your way out?

Yes, actually, which is great training for when. If somebody ask you a question about the company, I can explain how tea tastings work. I know the process. I visited t guys say, you know all that I understand sales and marketing. I never worked in hr or our finance because i'm very good to spending IT.

So is your neck. You go to the same with work.

He's going to where I started sales. He's start very much as go through the whole tea academy to become a much tea taste. And then it's up to him as to if he wants to become a the roving global ambassador that .

I am yeah okay so so what does Brandon ambassador .

do I in my head? It's all about trying to encourage people to drink tea, but more important to drink great a and talking to your good self, whether it's holding a big breakfast conference, whether it's just actually presenting to the walmer buyer to explain that R T calls more because this quality and therefore, this is what you want to be offering our customers. And these reasons why there is massive variations to my job.

But as long as it's focused on talking to and trying to get to potential to drink is existing to do and say, no, you you love l all great. Have you tried lady great if you taste lady great, IT is very kin to allegory, but it's obviously different. It's got that long ruffe IT taste coming from the lemon people, the orange people and having less the burger. And so yeah, and it's just about opening people's eyes. This the possibility they just call IT tea, call IT all yeah so what .

you become or became of a brand ambassador? Maybe ever spoken to your father or go back to your family history and ask the question, how twice that survive? Say, what? War two, world war one, these wars put business out of business.

right? Yes or two was the more difficult one. Because shipping, certainly we we had to drop a lot of our china, and china was really was actually impossible, but we could get to from particularly the african concerns.

And the government took over the buying process, and they bought three grades of tea, the good medium in the ugly. And we also went in the boat from them, the good, so we can continue to supply as close as possible, our blends to our right in the customers. And saintly, we wanted to do our bit for the war effort.

So we were supplying the the mobile tea canteen in that would go to the emergency spot. So when london was being bond, the firefighters would fighting far. Then there will be canteen serving about captain we supplied to to the british rate cross, who are sending food parsons to the british.

And I like business war and all those things, while trying to keep the business games. So yeah, we had to move. So our business, certainly the way moved preserving IT as as the circumstances we cities because that's what the business was built and that sell the most important growing area for us. yes. And so yes, we did get through that, that crisis.

do you think, because of the humane, very human main action the brand has done, say, doing what world two people appreciated IT and people remember you? Yes.

I think companies are always judge, not just on the quality, the product, their reputation, but actions you take the very important. So when we moved to under then, we were very much supporting local charities around here, whether it's a local hospital sponsor, the rugby club and do get very involved in the local community. And then sixteen and seventeen years ago, we said, that's great, but it's not the best use of our money.

What would be Better? Because in in to seven we became a founding member. We help found an organza called the ethical tea partnership, which was about getting two companies together in a non competitive way.

At the e. Tp, we would put in ethical standards, and we were only buy from t gardens who were signed up. IT was free them to sign up to pay anything, but they had to meet certain standards.

Therefore, we could raise the bar on the ethical side of Green tea. That was going, okay. I think where we would describe IT IT wasn't as good as we wanted. So we then started a program that we called source with cat. So we have our own team and they go into a tegan or a her garden, both covered and engage with the community.

So the first thing they do is they Carry out what we call the training community as needs assessment because, for instance, your first exam being a married couple, you might work in the tea factory and you might still be a journalist and but you live in that community. So you're just as valuable the member of that community. So we assess it's not just what your needs, it's what is the community's needs.

And IT, maybe that there is need for, particularly for for women education about how bodies work, what they can do and what can improve those sorts of things. And so then we would choose A N ng. So we work with save the children.

We work with care who are organized ation from some of the water organizations, whoever we think he is. They would then have the expertise to deliver that program to make a difference to the communities that we are working with. So great program.

One of my favorite stories about source with care, it's were working with the cartoon grows in gotta gotta a grows a huge percent of worlds cartoon. The first thing we were able to do through the na we work with, we get them to form CoOperative. So they had more selling power because others SE emotion and come around and play each other, each family, off against each other, so that that improve their livelihoods.

Then we've taken to the next step, where were they been taught how to grow other crops amongst the cardon in an environmentally friendly way, which is great. And then, if you like, a came alone from amErica and said, listen, we love what you're doing in go. Can we have some funds? We went, yes, what's can? Because the mall, we can find d IT.

The more we can expand IT, the Better we make ted. So we don't do this for competition advances. We do IT because we think is the right thing.

right? So so being with the people is quite important. Yes, a lot of the business, I mean, focus so much on making profit, yes, for the company and they do charity, but of often time, they wanted to sell first before they do charity.

yes.

But twining is slightly different philosophy.

Yes, certainly in business is obviously have to make a profit 东西。 But yeah taking care of our people and we extend that out to all the way back to the the end of our subject is very important. The changes i've seen in the company two years ago, we opened we have an onsite gym, which is fantastic, which is means people can come to work and juice to get IT before, after years in the lunch.

Hair, what have you? But IT IT makes that side of their life more accessible. And therefore they feel healthy, they feel Better. They are going to be stronger, Better. And yeah, that has all sorts of upsides for both parties.

And so yeah, you got to think about people the end of the day on my business card, which I completely forgot to put my money give you, but I get one, he says, our training and company limited and then honestly, has my details done here and this, how long is what have you the most important thing, most important word on my business card? It's company because he is as the people of the company who make the product and IT is people who buy. But yeah, he's our within the company, he's our collective, passionate.

And I think this gives us an advantage rather competitors is we love what we do. Therefore, we go as the england would say, the extra mile to make sure everything's great because that means you as a consumer o oh, I don't try because it's always great. And yeah so people really an A B.

F obviously resonate what twinings has been doing, yes, and therefore has been supported as well.

absolutely. My I always describe associated bridge foods if you like us uh but not a good look on sort of a gold parent because it's actually the number of the headcount. ABS is ready to be small and they don't tell us you need to make a tea with managing.

They know that we know team market. So all their business is very decentralized. And yes, they have resources. So if we need to buy a new tea machine, yes, we can do that because they will give us the resources to do so, but they also give us the time to develop a product line or so. For instance, what you just tasted Sparkling day is going to take time to for people to get h discover writing, then try and say the numbers, then build, but yes, you don't build a house by dropping a side wall, and you have to build the bricks and have you put the foundations, and first they give us do that.

He is just fantastic. That's a relationship that .

a lot of company's envy, you know? Yes.

yes, I I know that you you are also a mater blender is the right?

I've been through that program. I tend not called myself as to blend because I don't do IT every day, so I drink a lot of tea. But yeah, yeah, so should all I asked, blenders as a department win the lusty? They've all got enough money so they can to hang up their apps and taste foods. The company would take me on the show time, and I could do IT. Okay, so yeah.

so what does matter? Blender do.

So the mass blenders, the primary job is to maintain the quality of the different teas we have. So then they are buying tea. And then we have a team, that of mass lenders who blend the tea.

So it's sorting the right tea. And most of the we buy our seasonal teeth. So china is a very seasonal produce, spring crop, summer crop, fantastic.

The order call is tinning off in the winter. There's no protection tall. And so a lot of the tea were buying a season.

So looking by that t at the right moment when they think the qualities got to exactly the right level and therefore we yes, we are buying at a years worth a tea. In the case of dargan, within a sixteen we window, which he is very ly tight, particularly with global warming game. You used to be also putting your dairy in a march, start buying as you.

Now we could be two, three weeks later, five weeks later with a couple years ago and disorder otherwise. And that or IT might be a couple of weeks early. So yeah, but yeah.

So they are in charge of sourcing, and this is a point of difference to other companies. And then they are yes, they're mixing those teeth each week. They might after reinvent the recipe of just teg gn like gun.

And we used up that bit. So I need some of this, but it's always got to taste same. It's always going to look the same.

It's always going to have the same. My fill. So yeah primary responsibility. But then they are also training the the assistant bar.

So if you like the most junior position, the t tasty department is assistant. but. And they have got to teach them all. The skills they have is very much handed down generation to generation. You gotto learn the language of team.

I would say if I had to pick up the telephone order of general ka discussing a lot of tea from shanker, you've got to have a universal language. If you can say, right, I got the this characteristic, this characters, but I missing this one. How do you describe that as you articulate that and the whole day trade in that language so that you can talk to anyone in in the world of t say, yes, I love your tea.

But what i'm also looking for is that characteristic. They're owning their pilots, so they're constantly teaching the assistant buyers to translate whatever they're tasting into. And can you taste this and they make you more and more difficult.

So you're looking for the subtle nuances because those bits make the difference. They are teaching the assistant bar who then become bars at twelve, fifteen years, become master t tastes. But that is very much a pear judgment.

There's no certificate, there's no university you go to its its mass t date is collectively. Yes no, I think think piece, I got that so well. Give him in his spoon and this .

is you have your own spoon and when we did a tasty OK.

which means if you got your spoon, you yes and he said, there is no school. No, all trying here. no. So yeah.

And then you got to learn the commercials because, obviously, yes, if we have to pay more money for a two, we will. But there are one of the dynamics. The market is the Price shooting up.

We buy what if it's going to continue, right? We actually dive in now buy to do. We have to wait because the qualities is not good enough now, always less expensive to do and all sorts of dynamics fitting in. So yes, it's quite a job. 哇哦 and when .

when you are very kindly giving us the uh the the tasting， the experience just now I noticed that their tea there, what in chinese we call him the flavorings no different different I don't know, fruit lab mix together right and then you share with us uh uh A A interesting story about your team in amErica has given here what the headquarter the briefing of pumpkin and .

pumpkin by chance, right? yes.

And you I can't imagine what that to you taste e like. So when the briefing came in and who will come up with a briefing like that and then a briefing that will come to master blender.

yes. So we are a very central ed business. So take we have a team in shanghai, we think in quality terms with probably tech reputation, keep maintain, but in certain places we can.

Taylor r is absolutely to a local market. Now, a pumpkin in the U. K. Is something the kids look forward to having halloween and coming out, meeting scary face, putting a Candy and IT would be unusual if any of the public that you got eat.

Americans love pumpkin pup, pumpkin pies, or that's all the thing and they're also they love their charges over there, which is great. And so the local team identify that could we make a pumpkin child because IT would be really good. So the autumn season to have this seasonal addition to our range ah and yes, but the most t tases over here, I don't heat publicans, so you can't reference publicans.

So they tried to make what they thought was the public's ice shi kept sending cells ings across. The americans kept that rubbish is rubbing this. And several months and eventually the americans said of the idea, we must bake a pumping pie and fedex IT.

And so a pumpkin t who they went. That's what you, me, and says, you can reference something. Then you can put the ingredient together. You need to create that flavor. So, yeah, very exciting.

I did that flavor work.

Yes, I yes, yeah, yeah. We thought he was going to be we will only going to make IT seasoning for around hlophe because that's when pumpkin seasons. But no.

it's on it's on shelf all year. Oh my god.

So how team around at the briefs? I think in those days, we were a bit behind the curve. We've caught out a lot, and some of the coffee companies were doing boat one and went, oh, this is nice.

Can we do a pumpkin in tea? And ci was very much on the APP in site. So the marketing team, when I did researching, yes, people would like in level.

we might my so this obviously is an interesting flavor. That power will be very popular among Younger generation.

yes.

So one of the questions that always possible us in china is about selling tea to Young generation. Yeah, actually, what are my episodes? Back in twenty twenty one, we talk to A T, and we were discussing how how much of a struggle IT was for tea makers in china trying to sell tea to Young generation because the Younger generation first will find IT intimidating.

Yeah, to walk into a tea tea house trying to buy tea that they know nothing about because there's so many variety, right? So how do I choose Green tea, dark tea, back tea? And even within each type of tea, they're different .

breed from different place.

So china, uh, Younger generation, they started their drinking or tea drinking experience with bubbles tea. So so to them that the bubble tea is like that, right? So the tea makers in china find a very difficult.

They try everything, but they just could not get tea to a scale among Younger generation. Yes, how do you crack that in the U. K, or T, U, K.

china? Very similar similarities, I would say, tea drinkers countries, and generally actually around the world, and yet certainly Younger generations, they are looking for convenience, easy to do. So actually tea bags are wonderful for them because you don't need all the equipment as well.

Supply a hot water, which based people have a cattle, a cap among you can do IT with just those two. You're done teaspoon because you take back elegant. But yes, so that first thing. Secondly, what the postcode particularly move into being more conscious of what we're putting into our bodies, easily excessive, healthy things that I enjoy drinking or eating, but do me good. And therefore we have very much ramped up.

I let you taste couple of our super blends, the baLance in the sleep, and they have things fortified, if you like, so we can put vitamins and minerals, what have you, and use the right hubs to get a particular outcomes. Hope to age, sleep, to age your digesting, to invigorate, order to help you ward off the bugs and things that we go. That one defense, funny enough, and used our blending skills to to put those together, work with a practicing a herbalist, who says, these are the active ingredients that will give you that desire effect, and you need them at this level.

And then our master blenders will add other ingredients, ts, to make them taste rate. So a few years ago in the U. K.

Tumeric was everywhere. Suddenly the next thing everyone had had a cheering this or chairing that. Your coffee, yeah, yeah. I coffee. You put IT, but he is very delicate. And because you need quite a big day of IT, I remember that the conversation practicing her, Billy said, if you put that match in the bag, they'll getting effect would be good for their joints.

And all this certain thing and all stuff, to me, helps with, but you're never again make a and our master black ender, who works in our new product development, worked his magic. And when he tasted IT, SHE went, that is just incredible because now chemical takes nice and we're making sensible. So i've presented lots of teeth, particularly on the the west coast of america, where the big health, the whole whole foods movement started set set down with really hard core natural food.

People who was suspicious of training because they just agree with black key company. They know it's natural, but they want the increase to get them do their body's good IT will give you that effect, right? Wow, that taste great.

We've been drinking this for years. I hate drinking IT. I drinking this a medicine now. I can drinking IT any joy because we want people to have enjoyable experience on the belief. If you enjoy something.

you will do IT. Yes, how long would these new I guess, what new flavor stay on the shell before you decide that you need to .

withdraw them or just cancel them some if we get 到 market research， right? So for instance, uh, lemon and ginger was that was launch back in ninety six and ninety seven with the whole lot of others. Now most of the others disappeared because human infusions, hole tears can be very fashion, like the two is the savor of the month.

So that is going crime me. A lot of those coming go, but occasionally you find one that absolutely sits because it's a match made heaven less. In the case of the eleven in ginger, which I am very pleased to, you will be on shelf in china in october wall.

How exciting .

and lovely. yes.

So so that sort of innovation was the action of the the strategy that I did to stay ahead and and stay, I guess.

relevant to the Young yes.

being relevant. yeah. And we talk about innovation. One of the new product that we tasted as well this afternoon was the Sparkling team, which I thought was very interesting because many, many years ago, a tea drinker, my husband is also a tea drinker, so we started mixing Sparkling water with Green tea.

Yeah, early on that was before Sparkling. T was even know exactly. So when I when I saw that at the waiting area, your wow, that's that's what we used to do, you know, mixing these two yeah, but you came out with the Sparkling tea. You must be the first one.

to be honest. I'm not gna say yesterday because I think they're probably are other Sparkling teeth out there. And I don't like to make planes, not truth or pass on. I wish I could say with the first what I hope we are is the best. So yeah, that Sparkling t is all about a pep up in the afternoon.

It's about refreshment, is about natural ingredients, the can, which is has less fifty calories we have now and show go because the sweetness comes from the fruit juices that are putting in the yeah so and then we fortified them. So if you're looking for that refresh and you get IT has the magnets and the other things in that do you know for you again? great. So yeah, it's a treat. He does a good, fantastic.

And this is not the first innovation that twenty years has done in this .

than three hundred years of you.

The old great was your invention. Eighteen.

thirty is an 5。 The end of l grade. Is that while a envoy, diplomats had been sent to china by the british prime minister, did some great work or two stories. One says that he just behaved in such an honorable. Manner in the eyes of the chinese man, man who he was resolving this small problem with was so impressed that the man gave him a gift of a more important to give the recipe. So that was obvious.

Ly, very great gift in the eighteen years, because china started on t and but the envoy knew the chinese tradition of the headman takes credit, so knew he wasn't to give for him on his return and give present prime minister at the same time. What's going on is Thomas training. Our fan is started this and by the time we get to this stories is the fourth generation he's Carrying on that we would make the spoke blends of tea for our customers in the same way you've got to several room, get to a spokesly solution.

perfect. You you could come in and describe what I want to relaxing tea, or in vigor, aging tea, or what I would want to taste like this one. And Richard would mix up the different days.

Once you were satisfied with that, we would written up the ingredient, put your name on IT. So next time we've and look up your bread and we can make more people for. So that was very nice series.

So when the prime minister received this to, he tried IT and liked IT. And then he asked his two merchants training to make IT for which was a great hour. Prime minister, and we were very happy to supply him and and the way we listed teeth with that, as I said, I think with your name, his title was all, which is, I see roll family ies.

You got the king of the way. You have jokes, you have ells. So, so, hi, hi, arista.

Tic family, who happened to be prime minister and his wife would very pride, serves tea to all their guests and visitors. And sooner later, I speculate, but i'm sure IT happened. Somebody said, this is gorgeous people.

Could we have some? And they therefore get training permission to sell this lovely t that part of the story to me is back in the eighteen thirties that we trade Marks on copyright. So every t company the world says they make a Grace tea. But we are the only t company the world have the the gray families signature are on our box. So we have the same file right on sign our boxes say, yes, this is the .

office genuine offending grey, yeah. Um so Stephen, your father has a initiated innovation himself as well. Yes, one is right by bringing her b yes, so you want to tell us about that story.

So at the time he he was a growing a export business around the world and saw in many countries that actually people drink more hubble best drink, save from they and and IT means naturally having free flowers, fruit, seeds, barks, other plans outside of the world of community sentences, which is tea.

And he quickly, really the skill in that we have of mixing them together to get that consistency of chase, because like to where they grow gives them a particular character. And through the seasons, IT changes. So we have the skills to make that taste the same.

So when a customer falls them with, so yes, he introduced a range of five five infusions back in one thousand nine hundred and seventy two because fitted with our our core business in our core skills. And he was a very natural thing to do. I've been asked why we didn't.

Why didn't Thomas sell herbal things? And I think back in Thomas day, that what we would call the wise woman, the village who knew how to use hubs to heal people, or what have you, they were very much in the decline fact. They were, and science was coming to the four.

And we had these things called doctus, who were 费 眼睛， actually knew nothing about healing people. But therefore, that sort of set of ingredients would be off limits, because they would been distraction and very negative in people's minds that he would be selling them. So he would say, no, I think that because I got this many difficult tea OK.

So yes, when I really understood company history, when I ready IT enough and digested IT, I think timing is very important. And what every generation so far have done is the right thing at the right time. And that helps a lot.

And those .

don't innovating for the purpose.

Also, when I was doing the the research, uh royal Warren is recognition .

yeah .

of the brand and equality.

So a role warrant is granted to companies that supply a good or service to the roof household. Okay, at the moment, we have warrants being granted by his magic and by queen cilla and in the flowers of time, maybe that the prince of wales will you? But the first rule is that you have to be a member of the trade so well of the tea trade and we supply t to them.

I not allowed to say what we supply under the the rules of the world, okay, but that is just part what. So it's a business transaction yesterday, but we don't give IT then that's more very clear behind the road. One, once you've granted IT, if you're lucky, you're granted IT for five years.

Some company is getting for three or four well, like enough just been granted its magic and child friends watch and IT will be reviewed in five years time. So every five years you have to continue to prove that you are worthy of being a raw warrant holder. Because criteria is just, you do trade room.

Yes, you must do trade. But they want role, want human companies to be seen as world class companies. So princess, our source with care program has been well clouds our environmental criteria.

So I don't know if you look out of the window when we were testing, probably got the chance. The building of the side, the car park, is also R T warehouses, and you can see them because safe facing them, but we have come them inside the panel. So we're reducing our car footprint, but it's not just waxing, oh well, reduce our car and football.

That is a constant Price as each time you're a view, you've got to keep making improvements gonna start for being the best. So they're all those. How do we use water? What do we do?

Do we send stuff to lander once our waste? What do we do with laptops? How do we make sure they get recycled to reprocess and repurposed? So there's master criteria is quite something to film in the application .

form a very long time.

But but so worthy because IT is huge honor because what what having a role world now means is, yes, you are a world class company. You are looking after your people. You're looking after ly putting stuff back into the right places. You're looking after the planet and you're doing all the right things. And hopefull other companies look up to you.

We need to do that too. But you were first granted the broad warn in eighteen thirty seven by queen Victoria ah and you received .

IT ever since the statement I would we have had the honour of supplying every successive .

british month from that .

day to this amazing that's what i'm enable to send the rules sorry .

but but once you you're granted the the royal war and you're able to tell the world that .

this recognition you lowed to so yes, at the front of this building, we have above the the logo, we have the role in advance, and we learn we can put in on our packaging. What we can do is the rule state, you can't make a profit by having the raw light. So for instance, therefore, i'm not a loud and what I did, you tell people what we supplied the world, how to, because that will be influencing them to to drink what the king or the queen might be drinking. So that's a very, very close to guard secret.

Not not everyone who works company knows what that is yeah and and therefore were not making a profit but having were very proud and therefore we display IT and if people understand what he represents and yes IT might the end of the day mean they go training or competition, only training things all want that means is going to be Better quality to all by that. So we might, but no one can prove that we do. Whether if I said drink this because got IT, okay, off to the time, off to the head.

And just for my lesson is interest. They're only eight hundred compassion companies or slash individual individuals who hold yal. Some of the brands are were very familiar in china. Burberry, ja land rover, D R. Harris, barry brothers and and rod and the road, the ritz hotel, london roles, ald, those are the names I were from other wood, but they're only eight hundred of them. Yes, not a long list.

no. And that that helps, I think, to make IT so special to be a warn whole company facts. For me, it's more special than that because the way IT works as they are, point one person in the company to be what they called the ground teeth. And I have the owner of, yes. So it's a very special feeling.

Oh my god. yes. So you, as a grantee, you get to meet the royal. No.

no, no, no. I go to get their needs food. So very different offices that so yes, I have the pleasure product is doing with the cheerful, yeah, I discuss what what they want, what they need, what they might like. And can we do is is always.

I think, going back to what you said, that the beginning of the recording about quality, the the fact that twenty years has always received the ground of royal warn, say so much about that insistence of quality. Yes, there has never been dropped.

Yes.

no compromise.

Yeah, absolutely. No, no, no compromise and and lovely to have that the ultimate seal of endorsement. And yes, last year I .

want to ask you about china.

given tiny's .

history with china, the china tea from china, right? Yes, but twenty actually enter china. Not not for long. Yes, I think IT was A B, F that brought twenty to china, two.

two thousand and five. We picked back on an A, B F. Office was a, yeah. So yes, I would say we were slow to come to change.

But in my second breath, I would say we did IT write what we don't want to do, russian, and go, oh, we want, we need to. So we need to established the office and established the team, make sure they understood the tea drink is what was the need. And at the time china was opening up, you were traveling, experiencing, maybe you coming to the U.

K. And what have you in drinking tea over here. And that was then the realization that we understood. That was the opportunity. The people who traveled, who fall in love, maybe with the comfort we want to have that experience at home.

And therefore, what range of tears would they encounter as they problem around the world? Therefore, yes, this is the right selection keys to offer the chinese consumers. so.

Sometimes and said, is a Young man, I was always in hurry, but I ve learned that patience is a good thing. Do IT right. Get IT right. And then people's respect.

What did also have something to do with china being of a very big tea drinking market. You want to be extra cautious as well what you enter.

We certainly new. We absolutely had yeah yeah. But but then I think when we got our into the right headspace that were we're not trying to sell to, to china because what's the point? You've got some the worlds greatest teeth, but what we've got is the ability to buy a teeth from all over the world.

So in princess dg, the english breakfast is made up. Indian teach and and tea. African tea did that so we can offer the chinese tea drink her additional choices when we understood that.

Then when you watch tea, Green tea and some Green tea to china, not a good idea why IT IT might happen, because people love the convenience for tibet. And I have to say, I love. We have to give full credit to the americans for invention and tea bag back in one thousand nine hundred and eight.

But the convenience of a tea bag is just fantastic. I, I when I traveled, I always have a half of tea bags and my backup. So I know anywhere in the world like not a great capacity if I haven't to be in places that don't stop training, which we but yeah, that doesn't happen.

yes. So people really love the companies in your bag. They know it's going to do the quality is very easy to use, very use, a friendly. And yeah, we've be making them since nineteen hundred fifty six. I think we know what we're doing.

Do you yourself or from the I guess, the studies or the market reports from your internal team tell you the any difference between the chinese summer consumers elsewhere?

We down to people who are buying is or are potential bias. There are many more similarities than there are differences. And so I ve been talking about convenience.

convenience. He's always fact that t bag very welcome. The consistency of the quality always they're easy to packaging. You know the english breakfast, right? I'm going i've actually heard in market research people say, yeah yeah I buy the red package and inspects and so yes, the communication is fairly simple and yes, our job is to make IT accessible and to tell people that where they can find IT yeah so be well obviously ing all the things that we do every day, which is make sure it's that good.

You probably Better selling tea or marking tea to Younger generation in china than the chinese t makers.

I was say, I think because we're offering them the choice of the healthy drinks. We don't use artificial flavors. They need we me.

So yes, so that's why it's so important to think local and understand the local consumer. In the case of china, that's what we have. A team in shanghai had to understand what's going on on the ground.

One of the trends, what do people want because i'm not going to buy what they right one. They want to buy what they do one. And if we can fill that needful. And then absolutely last .

question for me. Have you tasted in the bubble t in asia or farmer asia with the top oka in IT?

I have what are using, i'm going to say, as a loveral tea, that's not one of my favorite home.

What do you like about IT?

I went to boarding school, small boy, and tapioca was one of the puddings. And schoolhouse is never going to be great. Okay, school .

tapioca o so .

having left school, I promise my self. But the. But I was persuaded to try about ble tea, and I obvious ly the experience I had to do IT.

But unfortunately, that's to a lot of the chinese Younger generation. That's their first tea experience. Yes, ammi drinker. I drink a traditional chinese T, I also dream bubbles tea when I was much Younger, and I thought, if I only stick to bubble tea, I wouldn't know the wonderful world of the traditional tea drinking.

Yes, because that bubble tea is Normally made with low quality t and a low quality milk in top OK also not great quality. So the Younger generation, their first tea experience, if they don't move on to other tea or traditional tea, they're gonna all those. So that everything about tea.

which is a shame IT, is. And that is the only trouble with tea, is that is what this tiny, three little world that covers, this huge universe of flavors and different ways to different plays to grow IT in, to to process IT, to make the Greens of black, the pursed. And it's all covered by this tiny little word called tea.

And if you think, if I had a captain I didn't like in matter people who tell me in my ambassador row, no, I don't I don't like t and I say, well, okay ah, what tea did you try? The you today will try the Green tea, maybe like that will try A A fruit a you maybe like that like, oh, that's great, nice like that. Like maybe we .

should try as well as, like you have what you do, why when you use so so .

yeah so hopefully they will have a tea experience outside of bubble tea and go, oh, wow. And that will hopefully engage their brain and go there's more of this than bubble and start expLoring. So whether they come through the fruit side, the harbor side, maybe ready to drink, we will be offering all those opportunities for them to to step into this fantastic world.

Well, hopefully, through twins efforts in china and also possible partnership with local chinese t makers, we're able to welcome more and more Younger generation to come into the world of tea and discover, yes, this really discover the wonderful world of tea and and start enjoying tea yeah and they're wonderful tea other than just .

because I think even if they're not teaching is the moment they inherently know because everyone always talks about tea being such a well being, drink such so good. Food has so many things, and we're still learning about what is IT in tea that actually does the body good. It's easier to talk about the herbs because they've been studied for for years.

But actually, where is china always told us he is good for you. They didn't actually say because and we're now looking for that because if they are trend of well being, which I seen, I don't see ending continues than more reasons we can give people say, yes, you know, it's good for you. But now I tel you why it's good for and if you don't like that blend of tea, you that mix of tea, try the dargan.

Try this along, try the old grade lady. Grades can be terrific. Maybe you want to a super blend baLance the lemon, ginger or the robots and honey, whatever is you got to enjoy IT. Whatever do this do you? good.

Well, thank you so much for for sharing the twin stories and history. The key to your success and also their areas were also very honest about, you know, twenty, he didn't make IT didn't make IT right? But whether you learn the lessons and then you move on, right, these are really valuable learning and sharing for us.

I think there is that, that insistence of quality and not wanting to compromise on quality, but you also innovating yourself. You're coming up with new products trying to stay relevant to customers. Now those are great learnings.

I think a lot of our chinese brand who probably only have twenty years of history and they have a long journey to go, and I hopefully they will listen to this episode and have learning from this three hundred and forty years of his street of brand, knowing that there are things that you shouldn't compromise and they're philosophy of your brand that you shoot really insisted on, don't compromise because is other people doing Price war. Stick to what you believe is the right is the right thing for your brand and for your consumers. Stick with IT yeah and being system yes no.

you who your customers are and provide products that they want. And if you've got a loyal base of customers, y'll stick with you. So we've never set out to be the biggest, the world.

We didn't go to china things. And right, this is going to be huge. We went, we want to find chinese teaching this with holly, and we think it's IT will be good business. Yes, calls build the brick by brick, solid foundations, then hopefully will be .

able to welcome you to china and then have a face to face meetings with a lot of all Younger generation customers and even brands, just for you to share with them the twining story.

That would be lovely. Yes.

actually see you in shanghai. Look for to.

Thank you so much. nice. Thank you. Thank you. Bye bye.