Get ready for fully personalized breakfasts: following customized cereal from Mymuesli, which we covered last week, comes Blends For Friends, a British company that sells custom-blended tea. As the name indicates, Blends For Friends are mainly ordered for others. Gift-givers are requested to tell the company all about their friend in question, from date of birth and job description, to the recipient's physical appearance and hobbies. And of course the type of tea they usually drink. The more information master blender Alex Probyn is given, the better suited the blend will be.
Probyn had worked as a 'master tea taster' for a large tea brand for years, when he started blending individual teas for friends and family based on their personalities. The idea caught on, and now Blends For Friends offers customers across the globe the same service. Every original new blend costs GBP 27 plus postage for 100 grams of loose leaf tea, packaged in a gift-wrapped tin caddy with a bespoke label referring to the recipient and the different teas used in the blend. Reorders are priced at GBP 7 plus postage ("less than 20p for every personalized cup of tea"). Besides individual gifts, Blends For Friends also creates bespoke blends for corporate clients and teas for weddings.
Springwise doesn't see an end to the possibilities for smart entrepreneurs to create customized versions of familiar goods, selling them (online) as highly personal gifts or gravanity goods. From wrapping paper to baby blankets, and from bank cards to lingerie. Pick your niche!
Website: www.blendsforfriends.com
Contact: alex@blendsforfriends.com
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Lisa, in response to your comment, I use the information provided to create the bespoke labels for the recipient, but the true skill of blending requires my knowledge of tea (through tasting over a million cups and visiting over 120 estates around the world) coupled with demographic profiling - as well as the information provided - to create the perfect blend. If you are still unsure, why don't you test my creative skills...?!
I agree with your other comment - passion and knowledge are the key to success!
Customized is a good marketing concept, and in my experience, achieves great trial but lousy repeat purchase. Practically speaking, I'd be skeptical that someone could discern my tea tasting preferences based upon a survey...in the same way that I'm skeptical that someone could design a fragrance for me in the same fashion. It's been tried several times...and none of them have developed traction with consumers.
Doesn't mean that it can't be done. Just that it's likely not a "slam dunk" business opportunity.
Custom teas are such a neat idea! I found a site that does the same thing, but is US-based and used it for Christmas gifts. The company is The Shaded Leaf, and their teas were awesome. I even wound up ordering some for myself (I'm a big fan of The Shaded Breakfast and of the Museum Blend - I'm more of a black tea drinker than anything else, and they're on a par with anything I've had in England).
We have an Australian based company that does custom blends too! World Par-Tea (www.worldpartea.com) offers an online blending option. You choose your ingredients and they blend and label it for you. Lots of fun and it is really fun to personalise your tea!
This is a really good idea. I am a huge tea fan, I love it and the idea of your friends buying you tea based on your personality is very interesting. I have a birthday coming up.. I need to subtly drop 'tea' hints to my friends!
I've actually custom blended on The Shaded Leaf's website as well (www.theshadedleaf.com) and really enjoyed the results. As you add your different ingredients you can even see a picture of what you're creating--highly recommend this place.
I got a blend from 'blends for friends' it was amazing. A friend gave it to me as a gift and it is so good I have repeat purchased.
There's a herbal tea variant of this in the UK at Sympathy Teas (www.sympathyteas.co.uk) - you can pick and mix the ingredients you like and they put together a blend based on those. Then you choose a name for it. Not as sophisticated as the other sites, but a lot cheaper!
Just wanted to say that I bought a blends for friends for my anniversary a couple of years ago and it really was spot on! It is our favorite tea - no mean feat considering that I drink Earl Grey and my hubby drinks lapsang souchong! And the label was so clever - a little poem based on our hobbies/personality profiles etc! we love it.
Curious to know what sort of tea they think i wsould like based on my hobbies and appearance!
Theres no limit to the things you could customize if you wanted to set up a business. Choose somethign your passionate about and take it from there!
Lisa | May 23, 2007 10:56 AM