Tetley Tea celebrates 175th anniversary

London, United Kingdom, 2nd November 2012: Tetley Tea, the nation’s favourite household tea brand, announces its 175th Anniversary, celebrating how it has helped bring the nation together over quality cuppas since 1837.  Excluding tap water, 42% of all beverages drunk in the UK are tea, and Tetley is undoubtedly at the heart of our cultural obsession with this iconic British drink.

Consumed in ten million kitchens across Britain, Tetley Tea is proud of its well-loved heritage, having played a key role in bringing friends and families together over the years. The warm-hearted feeling that the brand purveys is generated from the ranks of the Tetley factory workforce that has employees and whole families who have devoted their entire careers to creating the perfect blend.

Modern Technology and Tetley

Tetley’s journey as a company has of course been strongly shaped by technology over the past 175 years, which has had a huge effect on tea production. It has been crucial for Tetley to continuously invest in new technologies in order to meet the increasing demands of the British tea drinking public. Sue Whitecross, one of Tetley’s longest serving workers of 38 years, remembers when the factory broke the record in 1974 for the largest number of teabags produced in a week with 40 million. Now the factory can make that in a five hour shift.

Technology has also helped Tetley develop people’s love of tea drinking through innovative and exciting ideas, for example introducing the first teabag to the UK market in 1953. Then in 1989, as a response to the growing trend of people drinking tea from mugs rather than cups as the teapot became less popular, Tetley created the now iconic round tea bag.

Tetley Tea Folk

Some important people in Tetley’s history that cannot be forgotten are the Tea Folk. Gaffer, Sidney and co entered the timeline in 1973 when they were introduced to the Tetley adverts. The Tea Folk have provided some of the most memorable advertising on our TV screens, instilling into the British public’s culture well-known lines such as “Tetley make tea bags make tea”, “2000 perforations let the flavour flood out' and “ That’s Better. That’s Tetley.”

You, Me and a Cup of Tea

To commemorate the 175th anniversary, Tetley has created the UK’s first ‘Tea Table Book’ entitled ‘You, Me and a Cup of Tea’ in partnership with the UK’s leading children and young people’s cancer charity, CLIC Sargent. The limited edition book is a celebration of the moments we spend together over the nation’s favourite drink and is a unique collection of 175 stories from celebrities, Tetley employees and tea drinkers from across the UK, all sharing their heart-warming tales about a special cup of tea they enjoyed with a loved one.

Amy Holdsworth, Marketing Director,said “At such an important landmark in the company’s history, it is special to reflect on how Tetley has been a unique part of the Nation’s culture. For 175 years, Tetley has bought people together, enjoying quality time over quality tea.  So for our anniversary, we are launching ‘You, Me & a Cup of Tea’ book which celebrates those valued moments spent sharing a cuppa with your loved ones and we look forward to another 175 years of Tetley helping to bring friends & families closer over a good brew.”

Tetley Tea Potted History

• 1837 – Tetley is founded by Joseph and Edward Tetley from Yorkshire who originally were salt merchants and decided to add tea to their repertoire. The company becomes one of the UK’s first purveyors of tea to the mass market
• 1856 - The Tetley brothers move to Cullum Street, London, just yards from the tea auction rooms. By 1888 they have an office in America too
• 1908 - A happy accident. A New York tea merchant called Thomas Sullivan sends out samples of tea in small silken bags. Some customers assume they should put the whole bag in the pot and it works.
• 1939 - Tetley's British representative (Mr. T I Tetley-Jones) goes to America and brings back the idea of the tea bag. In 1940 the first Tetley teabag machines known as the 'grey ladies' and stitch 40 tea bags a minute for export.
• 1953 – Tetley brings the tea bag to the UK market for the first time enabling a smoother, stronger cup of tea that brews in minutes in a cup or teapot
• 1968 – Tetley tea sales have soared to 5000 tonnes a year
• 1973 – The Tetley Tea Folk enter with Gaffer and Sidney engaging the nation. Tetley is also acquired by J Lyons becoming Lyons Tetley
• 1989 – Tetley is the first to launch round tea bags. They are especially well suited to the growing popularity of brewing tea in mugs.
• 1994 - Tetley’s techies are the first to create the dripless drawstring tea bag. Launched first in Australia in 1994, it is now a favourite in Britain, the US, France, Russia and Poland.
• 1998 - The 300 year old London Tea Auction holds its final sale. In its early days tea was sold ‘by the candle’. A candle was lit at the beginning of each lot, and when an inch had burned away, the hammer fell.
• 2004 - By now Tetley offers fruit & herbal infusions, green teas and specialty teas in addition to its classic blend teabags.
• 2010 - Every week, Tetley buys one million kilos of tea, which make countless cups of Tetley tea that the world enjoys every day.
• 2012 – Tetley launches Blend of Both, a delicious combination of great tasting Original Tetley with the added healthy goodness of green tea.
• You, Me and a Cup of Tea can be purchased from Tetley.co.uk for £7.99