26 Apr It’s Tea Time in Salt Lake City
The word tea often conjures up many different images—hot tea, iced tea, loose tea, bagged tea, Black tea, Green tea, Oolong tea, and the list goes on. It’s not surprising then that tea is the most widely-consumed beverage in the world next to water and can be found in almost 80% of U.S. households. In people terms, that means 4 out of 5 consumers drink tea.
What might be slightly surprising is that 87% of Millennials prefer tea.
According to the Tea Association of the U.S.A. Inc., consumers, especially Millennials, are looking for food and drink in a more natural state with few to no artificial ingredients. Peter F. Goggi writes in the 2016-17 Tea Market Review, that “this trend will also encourage consumers to reach [for] foods in their most natural, original form, such as true teas, for health benefits, instead of supplements and nutraceuticals. Tea is a natural, simple and whole food.”
So why are Salt Lake City Millennials drawn to this leaf steeped beverage?
Although no one knows for certain, popular opinion suggests that growing health awareness is a key contributing factor to tea’s increased popularity, especially among Millennials.
Some notable health benefits of tea include:
- Reduced risk of stroke and heart disease after drinking 3+ cups of black tea per day
- Lessened risk of death from cardiovascular disease after drinking 2+ cups of green tea per day
- Lowered LDL or “bad” cholesterol after drinking 1 to 6 cups of black tea per day
- Decreased the risk of certain cancers
- Helped prevent neurological decline after consuming 3+ cups of tea per day
- Improved muscle mass and increased bone-building markers, which help reduce the risk of osteoporosis
Since natural tea contains no sodium, fat, or sugar, it’s virtually calorie free making it great for weight management and overall good health.
So how does this information impact your Salt Lake City break room beverage program?
- Although coffee is a vital part of the work day and a great employee benefit, you may be forgetting about a large percentage of your workforce, if you aren’t also offering premium teas with your favorite coffees. Research suggests that 70% of the over 65 crowd prefer drinking coffee to tea, whereas Millennials are divided down the middle with 42% preferring coffee and 42% preferring tea.
- Because approximately 80% of tea consumed in America is iced, it’s important to make sure that your cold beverage program (i.e. vending machines, pantry service or micro market) contains canned or bottled ready-to-drink (RTD) teas in both unsweetened black and green tea options. Cold brew tea is another option to consider as it offers a mellower and sweeter iced tea.
Including both hot and cold teas in your Salt Lake City break room beverage program can help you to reach a larger percentage of your workplace population and contribute to overall employee wellness. Whether you are redoing your office break room or are looking to add new choices to your beverage service, we can help. Call PGi Services at 800.580.7266 to learn more.