HOW PYRAMID SELLING SCORED A HIT IN THE BATTLE OF THE TEABAGS

The humble British cuppa will never be the same again. A multi- million-pound battle is about to revolutionise the way we make tea - and it's all over the shape of the teabag.

Three major manufacturers are competing for a lion's share of a massive pounds 532million market. And no matter how happy you may be with your daily brew - they're intent on convincing you that there is always room for improvement.

For 45 years we were content with square bags.

Then in 1989 Tetley made themselves market leaders by introducing the round bag.

Now Brooke Bond PG Tips have launched the world's first tea TRIANGLE.

And not to be outdone are Tetley - this time with a drip-proof bag.

The reason for all the changes is simple. As a nation, we can hardly be persuaded to drink much more tea than we do already. We guzzle down 185 million cups a day. An astonishing 42 per cent of everything we drink (excluding coffee, alcohol, soft drinks and juices) is tea. So the only way tea companies can gain sales is from each other.

Brooke Bond have spent years and pounds 25 million developing the pyramid bag. They tried bags shaped like cylinders, cubes, spheres and even top hats before they settled on the 3D triangle. Its birth was considered important enough to merit sailing a 50ft pyramid up the Thames and laying on a spectacular firework display. A Brooke Bond spokesman said: "Purists say loose tea is the best-tasting, but 90 per cent of people make their tea with bags because of the convenience. And our new pyramids have more room for the tea to move so it takes less time to brew."

Research from experts at London's Imperial College seems to have proved them right. After the average brewing time of 40 seconds, the pyramid bags gave 87 per cent the infusion of loose leaf tea, while round and square bags gave 75 per cent.

But Tetley aren't in a stew. A spokeswoman said: "We were working on our drawstring bags well before PG Tips were talking about pyramids."

The draw-string bag - which aims to squeeze out every last drip into your cup, not onto your worktop - was introduced in Australia in 1994 and is already sold in France, Poland and Russia. Tetley said: "We launched the drawstring bag in countries where they like the string-and-tag bags. In the UK our string-and-tag bags account for just one per cent of our sales and although we plan to bring them here soon, there is no time limit." The third force in the Battle of the Bags is Typhoo, who maintain it's taste not shape that matters.

Typhoo spokeswoman Jane Lyons said: "Our bags are bog standard square, not octagonal, or spherical. We've found that it's what is inside the bag that counts, after all that's what you are drinking, not the bag."

But it's unlikely the teabag revolution will end yet.

Illtyd Lewis, executive director of the Tea Council said: "You can rest assured that if the last few months are anything to go by, anything is possible."

THE TEA TASTE TEST...HOW DID THEY BREW?

We put the three major brands with their different shaped bags through their paces in a taste test.

All our testers are committed tea drinkers - Gill Randall drinks seven cups a day, Elaine Phillips drinks at least four, while Pam Jones knocks back 11 and Carol Wilcox sups nine.

We left each bag in the cup for 40 seconds and measured the milk so all the cups had the same amount.

All our testers were impressed with Tetley's soon-to-be-launched drawstring bag.But we couldn't include it in the taste test because Tetley haven't yet decided which blend to use. Gill said: "It certainly squeezes out more tea than you can with a spoon and it doesn't drip on the worktop at all once you've given it a shake." Here are the taste results...

TETLEY ROUND BAGS (pounds 1.64 for 80) Elaine: "Definitely the weakest." Gill: "It's wishy-washy with a terrible colour." Carol: "I could drink this because I just like tea, but it's weak." Pam: "It's not strong enough for me."

PG TIPS, PYRAMID BAGS (pounds 1.59 for 80) Elaine: "Too strong." Gill: "Much more of a tea taste - it's the strongest." Carol: "Thumbs up." Pam: "Very good. It's much more flavoursome."

TYPHOO, SQUARE BAGS (pounds 1.59 for 80) Elaine: "I like this best - it's not too strong, but has a better taste than Tetley." Gill: "Slightly fuller flavour, but not strong enough." Carol: "I could drink it," Pam: "The taste of milk comes through too much."

Copyright 1997 MGN LTD
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.