Tea has its own chic so coffee had better beware – crowned with roses

Lipton Ch'a Tea Bar in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, aims to turn the concept of the traditional tea shop on its head. Walk in the door which bears a "This is a teabag free zone" sign and you'll be greeted with a contemporary, colourful and vibrant setting, complete with an orange leather padded wall! The seats and tables are at different heights and the service counter is open and modern.

Sacha Dew, brand development manager, Lipton Ch'a, says: "We decided on primary colours for the decor - the exact opposite to the coffee shop environment, which is pretty dark whereas C'ha is lighter and more vibrant."

The focal point of the service counter is The T-Bird, a machine which is patented by UBFFoodservices, which owns the Ch'a concept. As Sacha says: "It brews fresh tea and adds theatre - as customers can watch the leaves brewing." ‘Turbo teas' are brewed under two illuminated wings using a pulsing jet of water heated to the right temperature. The brews take 25 seconds from click to cup. The Bird has been awarded several medals including a Millennium Innovation Award and the prestigious Japanese G-Mark Award. Turbo teas have been developed by UBFFoodservices in several varieties including Earl Grey, Assam Mix and Darjeeling Mix.

"These teas are exclusive to our company," says Sacha. "You can't get them anywhere else." As she says, Lipton Ch'a want to change the perception of tea drinking and make it funky and modern. "There's enormous potential," she says," as 40 per cent of consumers drink tea at home, but only 17 per cent drink tea when they're out."

The Kingston tea bar, which opened two years ago, is the flagship operation, followed by another branch in Bristol, which Sacha says is primarily used by students. "We targeted the Kingston tea bar at the 18 to 28 age group, but it's more like 14-year-olds to 70-year-olds."

The company also has three franchise operations and is planning to sign up a further 20 to 30 franchisees by the end of the year. The franchise pack is fairly flexible, depending on the outlet. A smaller version of the T Bird in Kingston is supplied. The existing franchises are Red Funnel, which operates an outlet in Cowes high street on the Isle of Wight and Compass, which runs two Lipton Ch'a outlets at IBM North Harbour, Portsmouth and Winchester.

"We're keen to target contract caterers in business and industry locations," Sasha says.

3663, 224, supplies a number of items including Knorr soup, American cookies, cakes, jam, bread and Springbourne mineral water, while Unigate Dairies, 225, supplies the milk. All the tea is supplied by UBFFoodservices, 226.

Curiously, Lipton Ch'a also serves Kenco coffee, supplied by 3663, 227 and specialty coffees are made on a Fracini machine, 228.

Sacha says: "We worked with Fracini on the T Bird machine. We find that when a group of people come into the bar, some of them want coffee, so we have to provide it."

Cakes and frozen fruit are supplied by Southover Foods, 229.

Lipton Ch'a did make sandwiches from scratch on the premises but, according to Des, "this was too time-consuming", so ready-made sandwiches are now bought in from Food Partners, 230.

La Porcellana, 231, designed and supplied the Ch'a branded cups and saucers.
UBF Foodservices

Sample Menu

Soup and a sandwich, £3.95
Smoothies - Large, £2.80, small £2.10
Spiced Ch'a, £1.60 and £1.80
Ch'a Latte, £1.60