Thoraiya DyerBushell’s “Feel My Marketing Power” Breakfast Tea
May 22nd 2008 02:08
Ah, the classic teas. There’s an English Breakfast Tea. There’s an Irish Breakfast Tea. There’s a Scottish Breakfast Tea.
Now, Bushell’s has decided it’s time to fill the niche and foist on us an Australian Breakfast Tea ( Really Long Link ).
Great idea, right? Power to the Australian Tea Industry! They’ve been struggling for a while. University of Queensland offers this brief history of tea in Australia:
“The tea plant is a long-lived perennial tree, related to the ornamental Camellia. The young shoots of the plant are crushed and dried to make an infusion which we know as tea. The production is of two major types, green or Chinese tea, and black tea which is more commonly drunk in Western countries. The major difference between the two types lies in the processing.
Tea consumption per capita in Australia is fairly high on the world scale, but has tended to fall over the past forty years in favour of coffee.
Current total consumption of tea in Australia has remained fairly steady over the past twenty years at about 20,000 tonnes per annum. About 95% of this is imported.
Tea was first grown in north Queensland in the 1880s, but was not very successful because of difficulties securing labour to harvest (pluck) the crop. This venture was abandoned following a major cyclone in 1918.
Interest in tea re-emerged during World War II, when supplies from overseas were threatened. Research commenced at South Johnstone Research Station in north Queensland in the early 1950s to assess the feasibility of producing tea in Australia. The early results showed that hand plucking was not viable in Australia, as the cost of plucking was higher then the retail price of imported tea.
Work then focussed on assessing the practicality of mechanical harvesting, using hand-held hedge trimming equipment. This work demonstrated that tea of acceptable quality could be produced at significantly lower cost than hand plucking.
These findings led to commercial interest in the crop in the late 1950s, when Dr Allan Maruff, a medical practitioner in Innisfail, north Queensland, commenced a commercial venture. This venture was based on mechanical harvesting, using machines developed locally from an imported French machine. These Queensland-built machines were sturdily built, self-propelled units, and proved to be the key to successful tea production in Australia.
The original venture unfortunately experienced financial difficulties, largely arising from marketing problems. There was a marked reluctance by the packers of tea in Australia to accept and pay a reasonable price for Australian-grown tea.”
Yeah, those poor Australian growers couldn’t get a break. First a cyclone, then having to develop mechanical harvesting methods, and then discrimination by their own countrymen. Surely, with the emergence of Australian Breakfast Tea, their markets are now assured?
On closer inspection, Bushell’s Australian Breakfast Tea has nothing to do with the Australian Tea Industry. It’s a “blend of the finest leaf from around the world.”
Riiight.
Is there something wrong with Australian tea?
Not at all. In fact, if you’ve ever bought a box of Nerada Tea (neradatea.com.au), you’ve bought tea grown and harvested in Australia.
“Nerada tea is an Australian company started in 1882 in Bingal Bay, the home to Nerada tea, one of Australia's biggest tea growers. Today there are nearly 1000 acres of tea planted on the Cairns Highlands delivering 6 million kilos of fresh tea leaves every year.”
“Grown without the use of pesticides, Nerada Tea is harvested, manufactured and packed throughout the year. From tea bush to your cup can take as little as four weeks, enabling us to provide you with a fresh aromatic cup of tea that has its own unique satisfying flavour.”
If you don’t like Nerada, a visit to the Tea Centre in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra or Newcastle (theteacentre.com.au) will soon have you hooked on “Australian Daintree” tea:
“This mild black tea from north Queensland brews red and tastes earthy.”
I’d call that an Australian Breakfast Tea.
But Bushell’s has whacked the brand onto its own product, saying that the tea is blended “for Australian tastes.”
I assumed that meant that Bushell’s did a survey to find out which tea blends were preferred by Aussies.
Actually, they were smarter than that.
According to foodmag.com.au ( Really Long Link ),
“Bushells Australian Breakfast tea was produced on the back of recent a poll of over 1,200 Australians, aged 18 to 64, exploring attitudes towards etiquette and cultural values.
The survey revealed a remarkable shift in Australian etiquette away from traditional British social niceties. According to The Bushells Barometer, Aussies now drink tea from a mug without a saucer and enjoy ‘dunking’ a biscuit in their brew in front of guests. This suggests that tea drinking, one of the last bastions of British imperialism, has officially been ‘Australianised’ – just as the Bushells team suspected.”
What a coincidence…images of Aussies drinking tea without a saucer and dunking biscuits in tea form the cornerstone of the new product’s advertising campaign!
Bushell’s didn’t waste time polling us on what kind of tea we drink. They know we can’t tell one from the other and that they’re safe stuffing our teabags with any old thing. What they DID poll us on was how best to SELL the stuff – by bagging the British.
And sales of Australian Breakfast Tea continue to rise.
Just as the Bushell’s team suspected.
Now, Bushell’s has decided it’s time to fill the niche and foist on us an Australian Breakfast Tea ( Really Long Link ).
Great idea, right? Power to the Australian Tea Industry! They’ve been struggling for a while. University of Queensland offers this brief history of tea in Australia:
“The tea plant is a long-lived perennial tree, related to the ornamental Camellia. The young shoots of the plant are crushed and dried to make an infusion which we know as tea. The production is of two major types, green or Chinese tea, and black tea which is more commonly drunk in Western countries. The major difference between the two types lies in the processing.
Tea consumption per capita in Australia is fairly high on the world scale, but has tended to fall over the past forty years in favour of coffee.
Current total consumption of tea in Australia has remained fairly steady over the past twenty years at about 20,000 tonnes per annum. About 95% of this is imported.
Tea was first grown in north Queensland in the 1880s, but was not very successful because of difficulties securing labour to harvest (pluck) the crop. This venture was abandoned following a major cyclone in 1918.
Interest in tea re-emerged during World War II, when supplies from overseas were threatened. Research commenced at South Johnstone Research Station in north Queensland in the early 1950s to assess the feasibility of producing tea in Australia. The early results showed that hand plucking was not viable in Australia, as the cost of plucking was higher then the retail price of imported tea.
Work then focussed on assessing the practicality of mechanical harvesting, using hand-held hedge trimming equipment. This work demonstrated that tea of acceptable quality could be produced at significantly lower cost than hand plucking.
These findings led to commercial interest in the crop in the late 1950s, when Dr Allan Maruff, a medical practitioner in Innisfail, north Queensland, commenced a commercial venture. This venture was based on mechanical harvesting, using machines developed locally from an imported French machine. These Queensland-built machines were sturdily built, self-propelled units, and proved to be the key to successful tea production in Australia.
The original venture unfortunately experienced financial difficulties, largely arising from marketing problems. There was a marked reluctance by the packers of tea in Australia to accept and pay a reasonable price for Australian-grown tea.”
Yeah, those poor Australian growers couldn’t get a break. First a cyclone, then having to develop mechanical harvesting methods, and then discrimination by their own countrymen. Surely, with the emergence of Australian Breakfast Tea, their markets are now assured?
On closer inspection, Bushell’s Australian Breakfast Tea has nothing to do with the Australian Tea Industry. It’s a “blend of the finest leaf from around the world.”
Riiight.
Is there something wrong with Australian tea?
Not at all. In fact, if you’ve ever bought a box of Nerada Tea (neradatea.com.au), you’ve bought tea grown and harvested in Australia.
“Nerada tea is an Australian company started in 1882 in Bingal Bay, the home to Nerada tea, one of Australia's biggest tea growers. Today there are nearly 1000 acres of tea planted on the Cairns Highlands delivering 6 million kilos of fresh tea leaves every year.”
“Grown without the use of pesticides, Nerada Tea is harvested, manufactured and packed throughout the year. From tea bush to your cup can take as little as four weeks, enabling us to provide you with a fresh aromatic cup of tea that has its own unique satisfying flavour.”
If you don’t like Nerada, a visit to the Tea Centre in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra or Newcastle (theteacentre.com.au) will soon have you hooked on “Australian Daintree” tea:
“This mild black tea from north Queensland brews red and tastes earthy.”
I’d call that an Australian Breakfast Tea.
But Bushell’s has whacked the brand onto its own product, saying that the tea is blended “for Australian tastes.”
I assumed that meant that Bushell’s did a survey to find out which tea blends were preferred by Aussies.
Actually, they were smarter than that.
According to foodmag.com.au ( Really Long Link ),
“Bushells Australian Breakfast tea was produced on the back of recent a poll of over 1,200 Australians, aged 18 to 64, exploring attitudes towards etiquette and cultural values.
The survey revealed a remarkable shift in Australian etiquette away from traditional British social niceties. According to The Bushells Barometer, Aussies now drink tea from a mug without a saucer and enjoy ‘dunking’ a biscuit in their brew in front of guests. This suggests that tea drinking, one of the last bastions of British imperialism, has officially been ‘Australianised’ – just as the Bushells team suspected.”
What a coincidence…images of Aussies drinking tea without a saucer and dunking biscuits in tea form the cornerstone of the new product’s advertising campaign!
Bushell’s didn’t waste time polling us on what kind of tea we drink. They know we can’t tell one from the other and that they’re safe stuffing our teabags with any old thing. What they DID poll us on was how best to SELL the stuff – by bagging the British.
And sales of Australian Breakfast Tea continue to rise.
Just as the Bushell’s team suspected.
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