International Taste Institute

Superior Taste Award improves tea sales volume by 60% and increases market resale price

Chinese tea producer Tea2016 ( 青牛茶文化有限公司 （太上青牛) ) submits its first product to International Taste Institute’s sensory evaluations in 2019 and, following six consecutive years of successful Superior Taste Award recognitions for several of their products in their portfolio, registers an increase of 30 to 60% in sales volume. In addition, the tea company succeeds in selling its awarded teas at a value up to 20% higher than market price.

Read the case study to learn how the Superior Taste Award can help food & drink producers differentiate in a competitive market and increase margins:

Situation: Seeking out international assessment of taste

As a producer of a variety of different teas, the client was seeking out insight to fuel their international sales strategies for their portfolio of products. The tea industry being mature in China (and thus rather saturated), it was the client’s ambition to reach consumers in markets around the world and ultimately increase the general awareness and appreciation of Chinese teas. Mr. Zhang, Managing Director, explains: “Chinese tea is generally divided into six categories: green, white, yellow, oolong, black, and dark tea. I had the assumption that green tea and black tea were the most appreciated by a global audience. But I needed an independent assessment of their taste prior to making any strategic decisions for our product line.”

The International Taste Institute offers fully independent and unbiased taste assessments. The sensory evaluations therefore represented a promising route to explore. Furthermore, as the producer was looking for insight on the taste of its teas from a global perspective (to reach markets outside of China), submitting their products to an international panel – rather than a Chinese one – constituted an ideal approach.

Solutions: Expert feedback helps to adapt product offering

As the company was looking for unbiased, external and detailed feedback from taste experts, they registered their first product, "Mengsong Chunyun" pu'er raw tea, with a Comments & Suggestions Report and thus received personalized tasting notes from the jury following the blind tasting.

 

“The sensory evaluations helped us rethink how to increase the international attributes of the products so that we could ensure they were palatable to a wider audience” says Mr. Zhang, Managing Director.

 

The company subsequently registered additional products over the years to gain a full picture of their product line: “We registered Pu'er ripe tea, white tea, black tea, and cooked tea. The jury’s feedback was comprehensive and insightful and the written reports extremely valuable. For instance, we discovered that one of our tea’s fermented notes were too strong. Based on the jury’s input, our company modified the tea’s production methods.”

Outcomes: 30-60% sales increase & up to 20% higher margins

Tea2016 has participated in the taste evaluations from 2019 to 2024 consecutively and has been awarded a total of three 3-star medals, four 2-star medals, and four 1-star medals.

The actionable feedback from the evaluation reports combined with the endorsement of the Superior Taste Award label significantly impacted the company’s sales performance.

 

“It has given us good market feedback” says Mr. Zang. “The sales volume of our award-winning products has increased by 30%-60% compared with the products that have not been awarded.”

 

Zang also attributes an increase in margins to the Superior Taste Award: “Products with excellent ratings can obtain a higher premium. Two of our awarded products participated in the Beijing Guardian Autumn Auction. One was sold at 20% higher than the market price, and the other was sold at 10% higher than the market price. This really demonstrates the positive impact the endorsement can have on sales.”

Known by most actors in the F&B industry worldwide, the Superior Taste Award is an objective benchmark of superior taste, offering you strong support for business negotiations.

Learn how to get your product evaluated at out next blind tastings and potentially be endorsed by our international jury of top chefs and renowned sommeliers: taste-institute.com/en/access/get-started