Luxury tea company Tea Forté launched its new, gold tea infuser and Lotus collection at last month’s IAADFS Duty Free Show of the Americas.
The 23-carat gold plated Icon Au tea pyramid infuser is an upscale version of the company’s signature loose tea infuser. The infuser’s non-reactive plated gold is said to preserve the characteristics of fine tea.
The Lotus collection is a selection of five gourmet, organic teas presented in Tea Forté’s signature handcrafted silken infusers. The teas are housed in a box, featuring a detailed tasting menu and ingredients.
The idea behind the Lotus collection is to offer an alternative gift to take to a dinner party instead of a bottle of wine, the company explained.
Lotus comprises the following flavours:
Mountain Oolang – an oolang tea, punctuated with notes of peach and marigold petals.
Darjeeling Quince – a black tea from the Himalayan foothills, blended with quince.
Orange Jasmine – a green tea featuring jasmine and notes of sliced orange.
Vanilla Pear – a rare white tea, infused with fresh baked pear.
Lemon Lavender – a layered blend of chamomile flowers, lavender, linden leaves, with hints of lemon balm.
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Top: the new Lotus collection; below: the new 23-carat gold plated infuser |
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Speaking to The Moodie Report in Orlando, Tea Forté Chief Brand Ambassador Stuart Gold explained the concept behind the brand: “The idea is that we try to elevate the ancient tea experience into a highly designed, contemporary one. We see ourselves as the Lamborghini of tea, the tea that we design isn’t mass produced. We treat Tea Forté like a fashion brand, designing new collections each season.”
Tea Forté originally started its business in the hospitality sector but since it entered travel retail 18 months ago the channel has become a key part of sales.
“Travel retail and duty free is where our audience is in a concentrated fashion. We’re doing very well in airports because you have Asian and European sensibilities. They [consumers] embrace tea and they are taken by the design driven nature of our products,” said Gold.
Tea Forté made its travel retail debut with DFS in its T Galleria store in Hawaii, followed by Guam and Saipan where the brand says it is performing “very well”. Asia has been earmaked as a priority growth region for the brand, VP Global Sales & Travel Retail Moshé Cohen will be meeting with potential buyers at the forthcoming TFWA Asia Pacific show.
The brand has a duty free presence in the USA with International Shoppes at New York JFK, Boston Logan and Philadelphia International airports as well as Miami, the company’s bestselling travel retail location.
The company made its initial foray into Latin America with Neutral Duty Free and has recently launched in the Middle East with Muscat Duty Free.
