Tea and Ready-to-Drink Tea in the U.S., 4th Edition

Tea continues to be a star in the U.S. beverage market. Bolstered by consumers’ thirst for tea’s variety of flavors and healthy qualities, tea has shown resilience in the economic downturn. The category has experienced solid growth in the last year, with double digit gains from refrigerated tea. Ready-to-drink tea in general has been especially strong, particularly in natural food stores and convenience stores. And all teas are hot in foodservice. This report takes a comprehensive look at the retail market for packaged tea in the U.S., with reference to foodservice tea trends for additional perspective. The report examines the factors driving growth in the category. Readers will learn about critical merger and acquisition activity that is changing the distribution landscape for niche organic brands; the diverse range of tea offerings; teas’ functional benefits and the regulatory challenge in promoting them; the embrace of tea by fast food giants, coffeehouses, specialty retailers and tea rooms; trends in new product claims; purchasing patterns,demographics and psychographics of the tea consumer; and the new ways in which tea marketers are connecting with customers, including through social media and apps.


This report examines the U.S. market for ready-to-drink (RTD) tea, leaf (bagged and loose) tea, refrigerated tea and instant tea. The report segments and quantifies the market by channel and product type, providing historical sales figures and projections through 2016. The report examines market drivers and trends, retail sales-tracking data from SymphonyIRI and SPINSscan, new product trends based on data from Datamonitor’s Product Launch Analytics, and national consumer survey data from Experian Simmons data, as well as a proprietary consumer survey on beverage and tea trends conducted by Packaged Facts. The report thoroughly maps out the competitive situation at the marketer and brand levels, with detailed profiles of AriZona, Bigelow, Celestial Seasonings, Coca-Cola (Gold Peak, Honest Tea and Nestea), Lipton (from Unilever and the Pepsi Lipton Partnership), McDonald’s sweet tea, Nestea, Snapple, Starbuck’s Tazo, Teavana, Turkey Hill and others.


Scope of Report


Retail channels covered include supermarkets and grocery stores, convenience stores, supercenters/mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs, drugstores, gourmet/specialty food stores, supplement chains, direct-sales channels including catalogs and Internet, and alternative channels such as department stores, kitchenware stores and bookstores. Foodservice channels include restaurants, coffeehouses, tea rooms and tea retailers, cafés and bars, and other foodservice establishments.

Hot Drink Industry in the United States

Tea in United States

United States Coffee Sales, Us$mn

• $ 250
• Industry data
• January 2013

Yearly, From 2001 To 2017
By Business Monitor International
Source: FedStats, US Department of Commerce, American Beverage Association, BMI/BMI calculation

• Industries : Hot Drink
• Countries : United States

United States Coffee Sales, Usdmn

• $ 250
• Industry data
• January 2013

Yearly, From 2001 To 2017
By Business Monitor International
Source: FedStats, US Department of Commerce, American Beverage Association, BMI

• Industries : Hot Drink
• Countries : United States

United States Coffee Sales, Usd, % Change Y-o-y

• $ 250
• Industry data
• January 2013

Yearly, From 2002 To 2017
By Business Monitor International
Source: FedStats, US Department of Commerce, American Beverage Association, BMI/BMI calculation

• Industries : Hot Drink
• Countries : United States

United States Tea Sales, Eurmn

• $ 250
• Industry data
• January 2013

Yearly, From 2000 To 2017
By Business Monitor International
Source: FedStats, US Department of Commerce, American Beverage Association, BMI/BMI calcualtion

• Industries : Hot Drink
• Countries : United States

United States Tea Sales, Us$mn

• $ 250
• Industry data
• January 2013

Yearly, From 2000 To 2017
By Business Monitor International
Source: FedStats, US Department of Commerce, American Beverage Association, BMI/BMI calcualtion

• Industries : Hot Drink
• Countries : United States

Hot Drink in United States

United States Tea Sales, Usdmn

• $ 250
• Industry data
• January 2013

Yearly, From 2000 To 2017
By Business Monitor International
Source: FedStats, US Department of Commerce, American Beverage Association, BMI

• Industries : Hot Drink
• Countries : United States

United States Tea Sales Us$ % Change Y-o-y

• $ 250
• Industry data
• January 2013

Yearly, From 2001 To 2017
By Business Monitor International
Source: FedStats, US Department of Commerce, American Beverage Association, BMI/BMI calcualtion

• Industries : Hot Drink
• Countries : United States

United States Tea Sales, Eur Per Capita

• $ 250
• Industry data
• January 2013

Yearly, From 2000 To 2017
By Business Monitor International
Source: FedStats, US Department of Commerce, American Beverage Association, BMI/BMI calcualtion

• Industries : Hot Drink
• Countries : United States

United States Coffee Sales, Us$, % Change Y-o-y

• $ 250
• Industry data
• January 2013

Yearly, From 2002 To 2017
By Business Monitor International
Source: FedStats, US Department of Commerce, American Beverage Association, BMI/BMI calculation

• Industries : Hot Drink
• Countries : United States

United States Coffee Sales, Eur Per Capita

• $ 250
• Industry data
• January 2013

Yearly, From 2001 To 2017
By Business Monitor International
Source: FedStats, US Department of Commerce, American Beverage Association, BMI/BMI calculation

• Industries : Hot Drink
• Countries : United States