SCOTTISH consumers are drinking more tea than their counterparts south of the border according to new figures from Kantar Worldpanel.
The market research firm found the Scottish take-home market for tea is now worth £52.7m, growing at a rate of 5.5% year on year, ahead of the GB market figure of 3.3%.
While tea growth in Scotland outstrips the rest of the UK, Scotland is slightly behind on the number of consumers purchasing tea, with 85% of shoppers buying from the category, compared to 87% for the UK as a whole.
Scotland also differs in its preference for branded products, with brands accounting for 83.4% of tea purchases, 1.5% more when compared to total GB.
The biggest spend in Scotland is on the biggest sector in the tea market, ordinary tea bags, which account for 58% of all tea sales and of that almost 70% is bought on some form of promotion.
While 86% of tea is bought in the multiples, Scotland still spends more on tea in the independent sector, the discounters and bargain stores than other parts of the UK.
The biggest purchasers of tea in Scotland are retired consumers.
