“There are a lot of drinks in the market that do a good job of maybe one or the other, but we’re trying to be one of the first brands to really master the art of blending fruit teas with functional ingredients like turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, in that way that there’s no compromise in taste,” Role Tea co-founder, Mike Johnson, told BeverageDaily.
Role Tea is launching three products including a green and black tea blend with turmeric and ginger sweetened with 100% apple juice; a green and black tea blend with turmeric and ginger sweetened with peach juice; and the third flavor with rooibos red tea with cinnamon and apple juice.
Role Tea and its three flavors will be available in the DC metro area, northern Virginia, as well as Louisville, Kentucky, for a suggested retail price of $2.99 per 12-ounce bottle.
For the consumer that ‘eats clean’ most of the time
With some sugar content varying from 1 to 25 grams per bottle, the target audience for Role Tea is the health conscious consumer who still has a cheat day.
“This consumer ‘eats clean’ a majority of the time but will occasionally treat themselves to a donut, slice of pizza or a beverage with a balanced level of sugar.”
Fast casual focus
Role Tea has secured a selection of independent specialty natural food stores along with regional fast food chains in the DC metro area and with one chain with additional locations in Massachusetts and Texas.
“One the main reasons we wanted to target fast casual is that we think there’s a lot of opportunity to do brand building through those channels, particularly in the DC metro area,” Johnson said.
“I think there’s a lot to be said for someone to try a new specialty beverage out for the first time at their favorite fast casual restaurant, I think it helps the experience overall,” Johnson said.
Limited editions flavors for 2017
To drive flavor innovation, Role Tea plans to collaborate with well-known chefs with a “respected following,” to develop collaborative limited-edition tea flavors.
“We plan to get very creative with the ingredients for future blends,” Johnson said.
Launching an e-commerce strategy via Amazon is an area of focus for the company as well because they realize the growing level of comfort and convenience consumers find through online shopping.
“We do want to have point of purchase for people nationwide, even though we don’t anticipate doing a tremendous amount of volume, but we do feel like that’s the future,” Johnson said.