Lipton

Thomas Lipton is now known in the world primarily as the creator of the Lipton tea brand. By the time he started the tea business, Thomas Lipton had been a successful businessman for about 20 years, having made a fortune in the grocery trade. He himself noted in his autobiography that if not for this experience, he would hardly have been able to assess the potential of tea as a commodity and make a bet on it in a timely manner.

Thomas Lipton was born May 10, 1848 in Glasgow. His parents were Irish immigrants, his father tried several jobs and ran a grocery store in the 1860s. At the age of thirteen, Thomas began to work, in 1864 he left for the United States, where he spent the next five years, changing several professions, including being engaged in food sales in New York. While working in the US, Lipton learned the importance of well-delivered advertising and the power of unexpected marketing moves to increase sales. In 1870, Thomas returned to Great Britain, where he first helped his parents in their shop, but opened his own shop the following year.

Lipton's venture proved successful, and he soon began to actively expand his business, opening new grocers under the Lipton name. First, the network of these stores established itself in Glasgow, then throughout Scotland, and a few years later Lipton's grocers were already all over the UK. By 1880, Lipton's grocery empire had over 200 stores, by 1888 over 300, and Lipton also owned warehouses and a grocery packaging factory. He invested in livestock farming in Omaha and Nebraska, but sold his assets there to American companies in 1887 as he decided to turn his attention to the tea business.

At the same time, the Lipton store chain continued to exist and contributed to the spread of Lipton tea. In 1929, it was sold to one of the companies that were part of the Home and Colonial Stores retail chain, which had more than 3,000 stores. After a resale in 1961, the brand was used as the name of a chain of supermarkets for small towns. In 1981, this business was taken over by Agrile Foods, which rebranded the stores to operate under the Presto brand.

Another innovation of Thomas Lipton, also highlighted in his tea commercials, was the release of tea varieties specially selected according to the amount of water available in the region where the widely consumed tea was consumed. The advertising slogan "Tea that's great for your city's water" emphasized Lipton tea's specialty.

In 1898, Queen Victoria knighted Thomas Lipton "for his contribution to the formation and dissemination of the English way of life." In the summer of the same year, Lipton's tea business was corporatized. The excitement around this event was so great that the National Bank of Scotland, where the sale of shares took place, had to call the police to restore order. The first issue of shares brought Thomas Lipton more than 2 million pounds. On June 2, 1898, the first meeting of shareholders took place

In 1909, a branch of the company opened in New York. At the same time, the trademark acquired a modern look: a combination of yellow, red and blue colors. The best of the three Lipton teas on the market at the time, Quality1, came in a yellow pack with a red emblem that said "Lipton" in white letters. Now this design is preserved in Lipton Yellow Label tea. After learning about the invention of Thomas Sullivan - a tea bag, Lipton organized the production of tea bags. This tea was highly appreciated during the First World War, when it was massively supplied to the army, its popularity contributed to further commercial success.

In the 1920s, Lipton's thriving tea business faced strong competition from large companies such as Home and Colonial Stores and Van der Berghs that had entered the market. The second in 1927 acquired a 25% stake in Lipton, becoming the owner of a controlling stake as a result. John Ferguson became the chairman of the joint-stock company, Thomas Lipton was left with the place of the Honorary President of the company, where he had no real opportunity to interfere in management. Two months later, Thomas Lipton sold his shares to one of the Home and Colonial Stores divisions and left the business. Thomas Lipton died on October 2, 1931 at the age of 83.

Between 1938 and 1972, the Lipton tea business was piecemeal, in several trading transactions, acquired by the Unilever concern, in whose possession the trademark was in 2013. In 1991, Unilever entered into a joint venture with PepsiCo, the Pepsi-Lipton Partnership, to market bottled and canned teas to North America. In 2003, a second joint venture, Pepsi-Lipton International (PLI), was formed to do the same in Europe and other non-US markets. PepsiCo and Unilever each have 50% stakes in these companies.

For 2013, the Lipton trademark remains in active use, tea under this brand is sold all over the world (according to the Lipton official website - in 110 countries). The main part of Lipton products is located in the middle part of the price range and is characterized as average in quality, but affordable.

Like most branded teas, Lipton teas are blends of many different varieties of teas harvested from plantations in many countries, mainly India, Sri Lanka, Kenya and China. So, the most famous Lipton Yellow Label brand includes 20 different types of tea.