An interesting fact is that tea was first tasted in Russia earlier than in Western Europe and England. This happened in 1618 when Chinese ambassadors provided the king with several samples of tea. But the beginning of the history of tea in Russia can be considered the year 1638, when 64 kg of tea was actually imposed on a Russian merchant in exchange for sable skins. The merchant was very unhappy, but when he presented a “khan’s gift” in the form of “some leaves” to the tsar and the boyars, everyone was surprised by this drink and did not remain indifferent.

But let’s go back to our days and discuss the modern tea market. The success of Curtis tea haunted many. This was a breakthrough in the Russian tea market both in terms of product and packaging design and brand positioning.
The goal of this project was to fit into the wake of the market leader (Curtis) and take away some of its market share. After a more detailed analysis of the consumer and retail, it became clear that there is little chance of getting success on the shelf of tea bags due to the difficulty of giving a price significantly lower than Curtis. And in order to compete directly with the leader, there are no budgets for TV advertising and large coverage in social networks.

Therefore, our agency was faced with the task of releasing tea with a positioning similar to Curtis tea, but in the category of loose teas. Curtis tea is a tea that is positioned as a tea with different flavors, which is pleasant to drink without sweet desserts (and without the risk of gaining extra pounds).

The decision was made to do the design in a light color in order to get a good stand out on the shelf from the dark competitors. Differentiation by tastes is done using a photo-illustration of the food area. There is a spoon-shaped window on the packaging so that you can clearly see the product. Silver embossing creates a luminous effect similar to the artwork on the Curtis design.
The launch of the product and brand was successful. A large collection of teaberry fruit and herbal teas for the Russian Tea Company has long been on the shelves of supermarkets in Russia.

The project was implemented by the creative team of Clёver Branding. For many years it has been successfully sold on the shelves of supermarkets in Russia. Teaberry has also been developed in other form factors and price categories – a series in cans was released.