Consumers are often very challenged in supermarkets to find the best value products and they can be easily deceived by misleading labelling on packaging. For example, once could be led to assume that Twinings Australian Afternoon tea is Australian especially with wording that says
“Excite your tastebuds with our Australian Afternoon blend. This brisk, full-bodied blend was created with Australians for Australians.”
Whilst the carton is emblazoned with drawings of kangaroos in the summer heat, the fine print within the Quality Guarantee section states that the tea is actually blended and packed in Poland. As a result the naming should be amended to reflect where the product comes from, as it is definitely not Australian.
It is the same as English breakfast tea which has been around for many decades. While it could be confused as being tea grown in England (I am not sure if any tea is grown in England commercially), it is usually grown in Sri Lanka, India, Kenya etc. This tea is definitely not English. There is an Australian tea company that produces English Breakfast tea… even more confusing, English Breakfast from an Australian company from blend of ‘Assam, Sri Lankan and Kenyan teas’ It is worth looking at this page as the same Australian company produces Australian breakfast tea…not using the tea they grow in Australia.
The Twinings tea doesn’t say it is Australian produce or made in the labelling, just an Australian style tea for Australians. It is a bit like Greek (style) yoghurt which are products of Australia.
It is a bit like saying a bbq is ideal for the Australian BBQ, designed in Australia for Australians, with the BBQ made somewhere else in the world. There are many products which have such marketing methods which seem to be acceptable.
This reminds me a little of a patriotic Brit angrily tweeting after finding out Yorkshire tea isn’t grown in Yorkshire.
But yes I do agree the marketing here is pretty clearly designed to infer ‘Australian’ beyond any other teas that tie themselves to places. I don’t see much English Breakfast depicting a London skyline.
Side note if anyone does want Australian tea, there’s a company called Goanna Hut that is blended by an Aboriginal chef using green tea and native plants. It’s bloody expensive but if you like green tea it’s very unique
Is there any consistency or convention in naming tea.
‘Earl Grey’ for instance contains no traces of The Earl, and like many other teas is the name attributed to the blend. Possibly the name of the creator, or intended usage or inspiration or supposed attributes or …
Should we be flattered a Polish tea blender is inspired by Australia. Many of their country have been inspired to immigrate here. The origin or source of the Aussie label blending recipe - possibly some marketing guru love in at an expensive resort, more likely closer to London than Sydney.
On the front of the box, the ‘Australian Afternoon’ is the blend name in the same way as Earl Grey, or Russian Caravan, or English Breakfast, etc. Clearly the names are prosaic and not indicative of those things being included in the box.
On the second picture, it indicates that the tea is the perfect blend for Australia. It does not try in any way to say it is a tea grown or blended Australia.
Not directly, but I’d put money on part of the marketing reason for it is a rub off of people thinking it’s Australian. Is that legal? Absolutely. Is it ethical? Debatable, hence our debate now
I thought i remember seeing reviews of Yorkshire tea that had a good review for taste and flavour. But i certainly agree with saying that most tea is grown overseas where climate is perfect. Im not sure if tea is grown in Australia unless it is where climate is right. Bur in regards to twinnings i remember the same tea from long time ago advertised. I have never bothered looking at every brand of tea to see where it is produced.
While it may be a small amount the question was whether there was tea grown here. The answer to that general question is yes it is. From the figures you provided it would seem that a good part of that is exported.
Interesting story about nerada i have purchased before a few times and they say tbey grow it here and produce it faster making it fresher. Nrct time ill buy a pack of black tea
Choice has reviewed Aldi’s Diplomat tea in the past and it is Indian origin (Packed in India from Indian and imported ingredients which means it could have tea leaves from anywhere where it is cost effective for Aldi).
The only Australian tea which is widely available is Nerada.
