TWG TEA-A NEW TEA BRAND STAMPING ITS MARK ACROSS THE WORLD

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, June 23 (Bernama) -- Tea, it is said, is the second most
favourite drink in the world after water.

Tea remains popular till today and it has evolved from just being a simple
and casual drink for breakfast or afternoon break, to a health drink with high
medicinal value. Tea drinking is a tradition in some cultures, and some have
turned it into an art.

Banking on the tea's rich legacy and its perpetual popularity, a group of
foreign professionals and entrepreneurs formed a luxurious concept tea company
in Singapore called TWG (The Wellness Group) Tea, in 2007.

The idea to form a tea company came by chance when Hong Kong-born Manoj M.
Murjani, who is now TWG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer met a French
businessman of Moroccan origin, Taha Bouqdib (TWG President), by chance.

The two immediately sensed that they could work together in a business
venture to revolutionise the tea business by turning the commodity into an
iconic luxury brand.


TEA SALOON

They later roped in Chicago-born luxury fragrance professional Maranda
Barnes, a French-Cambodian restaurant management specialist Rith Aum-Stievenard
and a French patisserie chef Philippe Langlois into TWG Tea.

In August 2008, the company opened its first European-styled tea saloon and
boutique at Republic Plaza in the Raffles Place business district, offering over
250 different single estate and hand-blended teas.

Last year, the company opened a second tea salon and boutique, a more
luxurious one, at the latest opulent shopping mall ION Orchard on Orchard Road,
offering more than 400 types of TWG teas.

The tea salons also offer tea patisseries, exclusively made by TWG's master
and executive chef Philippe Langlois.

Since then, TWG has never looked back as their business started to flourish
and carving out a name of its own as an international brand in the tea world.

To date, TWG Tea's collection numbers well over 1,000 different single
estate harvests and exclusive tea blends from every tea producing country in the
world.


THE STARBUCK OF TEAS

The TWG Tea brand has now made an impact on the local tea scene, and hoped
it would soon become "the Starbuck of tea".

To further stamp its mark, the company designed its own elegant and
attractive multi-coloured tea canisters that are exclusively manufactured in
France, and are neatly arranged and displayed at its saloons and retail outlets.

Some of the tea blends such as 'Tibetan Secrets', 'The Napoleon', 'The
Rwanda Express', 'Weekend in Moscow', 'Weekend in Shanghai', 'Polo Club, 'Smoky
Russian', 'French Earl Grey' and 'Earl Grey Amour' are stored in these unique
canisters.

The company also customised a variety of hand blown glass, porcelain, clay
and precious metal teapots, fine bone china teacups, saucers, creamers and sugar
bowls, as well as tea filters and tea scoops.


A PERFECT BLEND FOR ALL PALLATES

The beautifully designed TWG teapots, teacups, canisters, serving spoons and
tea accessories are on sale at its tea salons.

True to TWG's dubbing its tea as "the world's finest luxury tea brand", its
tea now is highly regarded by tea buffs and has become the most sought after tea
brand among top local and international food establishments.

The company in July last year managed to secure a deal with the city-state's
national carrier Singapore Airlines to offer on its in-flight gourmet premium
TWG teas to passengers traveling on the airline Suites, First and Business
classes.

Barnes said the company has also established an international distribution
network and retailing in renowned outlets throughout Asia, the United States and
the United Kingdom, including the plush Harrods in London.


A SOUGHT AFTER TEA BRAND

She said TWG Tea has now become the second most sought after tea brand after
Harrods tea at London's Harrods.

This month (June) the company opened a dedicated TWG Tea counter in Harrods
where not only patrons will be able to enjoy TWG Tea's packaged exotic tea
blends and infusions but also access to a wide range of quality loose leaf fine
harvest teas and blends from around the globe.

Taha Bouqdib, the president said "TWG Tea's and Harrods combined heritage in
tea and luxury has created a unique partnership which we believe will enchant
contemporary tea drinkers."

Earlier, on May 24, as part of its expansion plans, TWG Tea opened its first
standalone tea saloon and boutique outside of Singapore in Jiyugaoka in
Meguro-Ku district in Tokyo, Japan, offering 260 different single estate and
hand blended teas, minus Japanese tea.

Barnes said the company managed to make an annual sales of 650 tonnes in two
years up to September last year, and today the sales has reached a little over
900 tonnes.


PROCESSED AND PACKAGED IN SINGAPORE

The company sourced its teas from various tea plantations in Asia such as
Sikkim (the Himalayas), Nepal, Nilgiri and Assam in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar,
Bangladesh, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Szechwan, Fujian,
Zhejiang, Anhui, Yunnan, Hubei and Jiangsu in China, Persia and Kenya and Rwanda
in the African continent.

Barnes said TWG Tea located its office in Singapore because it has better
access to the world's best tea plantations around Asia, and it is easier for the
company to monitor them as well as ensuring the tea leaves produced are of high
quality and of TWG Tea standards.

The TWG Tea team has cultivated exclusive relationships with tea growers
worldwide to ensure exclusive access to harvests from renowned gardens, creating
blends with the most fragrant flowers, fruits and spices from around the world.

The harvests are sent to Singapore for processing and packaging before the
tea is distributed to its local and international dealers and retailers under
the TWG Tea brand.

Moving forward, TWG Tea will soon venture into the Middle East, its next
potential big tea market.
-- BERNAMA


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