FMCG Innovations and Trends by Sophia Nadur

65% of high-potential start-ups fail as a result of conflict among co-founders or between founders & other members of the management team.  In a  Financial Times  article, founders - including Tg Green Tea's co-founder Sophia Nadur, discuss why agreeing a ‘pre-nup’ can avoid a cocktail of conflicts. https://www.ft.com/content/2e5f512a-88df-11e7-afd2-74b8ecd34d3b

The global ready-to-drink tea market reached 37 billion liters in 2016: up 40% since 2011, and market consultancy Zenith Global predicts this impressive growth is set to continue with global consumption expected to reach 45 billion liters by 2021 (growing 7% per annum). Increased consumption has been driven by consumers’ rising health awareness, with RTD teas offering an attractive alternative to carbonated soft drinks. In Asia – by far the biggest market for RTD teas – functional benefits are also a key characteristic of the market. RTD teas will continue to evolve with exotic flavors and more sophisticated offerings. But the category will also face increased scrutiny over its health positioning, with some RTD teas containing as much sugar as carbonated soft drinks. Tg green tea, a new British brew, is set to take on global behemoths in the race to healthify the category. www.drinktg.com

Hua  (my co-founder) and I have been crowdfunding on  Tesco Backit  for the past few weeks. It's been a great opportunity to share with folks who already know and love our innovative drink concept.....and loads of folks who never heard of Tg green tea - or us -before. The crowdfunding platform itself is new -  the first of its kind by a global retailer (Tesco) -  and focused on supporting emerging food & drink brands raise funds to scale up and get ready to list (hopefully) in a Top 5 global retailer! The campaign closes on  7th November  so please allow me to make a short, direct appeal to you to support our crowdfunding campaign. With every pledge we are able to deliver our drinks to more and more cafes, delis, workplaces and charities all across Britain - and to ensure sales support is on hand to fulfill orders once more folks have sampled our drinks. Please may I ask you to make a pledge of £25, £50, or £100 today.  We will say "tha...

My mission to fight for better food & drink on store shelves  drove me to create Tg. Getting the drink in-store with Tesco in the UK is just the start. This crowdfunding campaign has stirred up strong interest by another major retailer as well as a number of cafe chains. Enquiries have come in from the US, France, Germany, the UAE, China, Japan, Chile, the Netherlands, and the Caribbean regarding selling Tg in those markets. But I cannot make Tg a success on my own. I need your help which is why I am here, asking you to make a campaign pledge. Bob Beveridge , a former colleague at Mars, experienced NED & Chartered Accountant, made a sizeable pledge very early in the campaign. He then asked to try out Tg green teas. He thought the drinks were delicious and something really new and different (after doing his own in-store and other research). He was so moved by Tg's mission that he reached out to offer his help as an advisor and ...

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is one of the best “preventative medicine” steps we can take. The founder of medicine, Hippocrates, said in 400 B.C. “ Let medicine be thy food and let food be thy medicine ” and for centuries doctors,  dietitians, nutritionists, and nutritional therapists  everywhere have talked about the role that food plays in health and how you feel on a day to day basis. Dr Hua He  and I are two co-founders of a British based startup that is on a mission to encourage healthier lifestyles across Britain and the world. Hua has worked for many years in the medical field to research and develop new drugs that can make sick people better (or at least ease some of the symptoms of illness). She was born in China and grew up with the traditional health & wellness knowledge of Green tea and other fruit & botanicals that had become part of everyday life in the “Middle Kingdom” for over 4,000 years. Green tea was known since anc...

I worked for many years in the global food & drink industry (Coca-Cola, Unilever, Mars, & Kraft/Mondelez) before launching my own startup brand. Many people have asked me since what's it like running a startup versus working "in corporate". I want to share with you just 3 lessons I have learnt that are reinforced for me every day. Quality remains priority #1: One of the things drilled into me from early in my career was the importance of  product quality . Indeed, the first of  Mars  Inc .’s 5 principles is “quality” which I remember being defined as  “ the consumer is our boss, quality is our work and value for money is our goal .” Product quality is an important  strategic weapon for small and large food & drink manufacturers alike  and no corners should be cut! It was also a key factor for us winning a place on  Tesco Backit , a new-to-the-world specialist food and drink crowdfunding platform which has b...

There has been a lot of discussion, especially in the past couple of years, about the amount of sugar we’re consuming as a nation - especially from soft drinks. That’s actually what got Sophia, my co-founder, and me wanting to develop the  Iced Tg  range. Our Tg green teas  do contain added sugar . In total,  less than 2 teaspoons  of it per bottle but, before you click the “delete Tg from consideration” button, give us  2 minutes ! Just how much sugar is in  my drink ? Take a bottle of your favourite soft drink and look closely at the  nutritional table  on the back of the pack. Look closely at the number in grams of sugar that is in the drink in your hand. The vast majority of drinks contain much more than  7g of sugar  per bottle and many of them you’d never expect are loaded with 4 or more teaspoons of sugar! Look carefully because even a drink that has a flash on front of pack  “No added sugar”  can pack...