Create a stir with dieters

Dear BIZ

I set up a speciality tea company after graduating from Newcastle University. It was a few years ago and in the middle of the credit crisis, so I took a bit of a gamble.

I was originally going to set up a coffee company but I decided that market was saturated.

After a visit to Vietnam, I realised that the UK was way behind other countries when it comes to our tea selection – most people were drinking bog standard builder’s tea. There was nothing splitting the market up for people who value the drink.

I decided we needed more specialist teas that would stand out from the mass teabag culture. It is working and Char Brew (charbrew.com) keeps expanding. We now export to 10 countries and keep adding new teas to the range. We offer lots of different products, including wellness and herbal teas.

We have recently launched a new detox tea, Teatox, for daytime and night time, which helps with digestion and can help weight loss as it lifts metabolism.

We have just started selling on Amazon.co.uk and are trying to raise awareness of all our ranges, especially the new detox teas, so we can get more people buying.

BIZ replies

As your new teas are detox and others are wellness brews it may be worth contacting dieting and health-focused groups to see if you can link up to raise awareness amongst their members.

These groups will want members to have continued success to keep them coming back and your tea could be right up their street.

There are many groups nationwide, from the big names of Weight Watchers and Slimming World, to smaller local clubs that you could approach. There are also health magazines and bloggers that could be ideal to help you spread the word. Pop some samples in the post to get your teas on peoples’ radars.

Use social media to help create a stir about your presence on Amazon. While it’s a big platform you are jostling with thousands of others for the attention of shoppers so you need to lure people in with clever posts and links to your area on the site.

Tea is a daily staple and the added benefits of your speciality brews should give you lots of ways to capture the attention of potential customers.