Premier plans to open Typhoo Tea café chain

Premier Brands UK is considering opening a chain of branded Typhoo Tea cafés, called t.fresh.

Premier has negotiated a £3m deal to be the Millennium Dome’s official tea supplier and will open a trial version of the t.fresh café in the Dome in January. If successful, the company will roll out the format.

Premier believes t.fresh will rival high-street Van den Bergh’s Brooke Bond ch’a cafes and Gaffer’s – the Manchester-based tea shop, which Tetley is hoping to turn into a chain.

Premier Brands is third in the tea sales market with a 13 per cent value share, behind Van den Bergh’s Brooke Bond and Tetley, according to Mintel.

Premier marketing director Chris Thomas says: “t.fresh at the Dome will give people a taste of tea drinking in a sophisticated, futuristic setting.

“We will monitor the situation and consider the potential for opening more cafes.”

Thomas would not comment on whether t.fresh would be opened as stand-alone units or part of other outlets, or how the cafes would be financed. Premier is believed to be lining up agencies to pitch for the £5m Typhoo advertising account.

Delaney Fletcher Bozell handles Typhoo’s business. It won it from Saatchi & Saatchi in February 1998.