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Tetley History

At the beginning of the 19th Century, nearly 150 years after Thomas Garaway first brought tea to Britain, brothers Joseph and Edward Tetley began to "peddle" salt from the back of a pack horse on the Yorkshire Moors. In time they added tea to their supplies and with the proceeds of these ventures, plus profits from investment in the railways, the brothers established themselves as tea merchants.

In 1856, having earlier established Tetley Brothers in Huddersfield, the brothers moved to London. But the brothers disagreed and they parted. Joseph went into partnership with Joseph Ackland, and "Joseph Tetley & Company, Wholesale Tea Dealers" was formed. Over the next 20 years the business continued to grow.

Through a distribution agreement with Wright & Graham, Tetley's Teas became a major trade name in America. In 1913 Wright & Graham became Tetley Tea Incorporated.

Tea Council records show that by 1920, the still relatively innovative tea bag had received trade acceptance but it was not until 1939 that Joseph Tetley & Company's British representative (T I Tetley-Jones) first went to America and brought back the idea of the tea bag. Allowing for this, it was still not until 1953, nearly 33 years after introduction onto the American market, that Tetley introduced the tea bag. This small, perforated innovation could probably be identified as Tetley's most successful and clear competitive edge.

Although the Tetley brand has been selling in Australia since 1963, it was in July 1988 that the company Tetley Australia was formed. From that point Tetley Australia has progressively grown to be the no. 2 brand in sales volume in Australian grocery stores. This successful journey has been in a large part due to innovation, with Tetley being the first to introduce many consumer-led innovations, including:

• All Rounder Tea Bag 1991 - A bigger bag with a robust, well-rounded flavour
• Drawstring Tea Bag 1995 - The convenience of a tea bag, with no drips
• Green Tea Range 2000 - One of the first major brands to offer a green tea, under the Emperor's Garden brand.
• Big Cuppa 2001 - Again, recognising that more customers are drinking tea from a mug, Tetley delivered a new tea bag to create the perfect cuppa in a mug.