Alan Wenden Welsh Brew Tea – Aberystwyth University Talk
Today we had a guest speaker in our Marketing Management Module. His name was Alan Wenden an entrepreneur who has launched a series of products.
I’ll detail below what he said about his business and how he got where he’s today. The talk also followed some question and answers from students.
Personal Profile – Alan Wenden
- Left with low qualifications, no University Degree.
- He did a Sandwich course.
- After working 6 months at a factory he went into Banking.
- Age 66
- He found that he was very good at Communication (sales/marketing).
- 1966’s got a job selling Type Writers.
- He then got into a blue chip company (10 years) which was Market Orientated.
- Worked at Gulf and Western Tobacco which were Sales Orientated.
- Worked for Corgi when they became a Toy Manufacturer. This business was manufacture lead. The fall of Corgi when children wanted computers instead of Diecast figures.
Alan Wenden International
- Although Corgi didn’t like to manufacture the London bus because it was too difficult to produce because it meant low output, Alan took on the challenge.
- Selling double-decker London busses to tourists through tourist shops in airports etc.
- Packaged Product to sell at tourists. The packaging added value to the product to sell it at around £6.99 but only costs around £1.89 to make. (estimates).
“Theory Essential, Application is the Key” – Alan Wendon.
Welsh Brew Tea
The Market
Alan wanted to have a product that was produced and sold in Wales but couldn’t decide what to produce/sell. After some research into Yorkshire Tea and GlenGettie (Wales) he found that these products weren’t of that area. The GlenGettie tea is from Liverpool not Wales and Yorkshire Tea isn’t from Yorkshire either.
The Product
- Welsh Tea – Blend
- Unique Selling Point is that it’s the first product to be Bi-Lingual displaying Welsh and English.
Distribution
Alan approached Tesco about selling in stores. He said that when he contacted them they said they had lots of people offering Tea related products and that they couldn’t see themselves stocking the product but none the less offered a 20 minute slot at their headquarters in London.
Once they had heard the product was bi-lingual and with the Welsh Tesco stores having signs in Welsh they wanted a piece of the action.
The product was trialled in the Tesco Pontypridd and had 300 items sold in the first week of Welsh Brew Tea.
Since then he has approached Asda and the other big names to sell his products as well as the Celtic Manor Hotel placing sachets of Welsh Tea in Rooms. He has had many people ring up using details on the back of these Sachet’s asking where they can buy more.
Advertising
Alan didn’t have a lot of money to spend on advertising but came up with the great idea of visiting the top 10 Welsh shows. He started offering Tea for free (trial) but with 100yard long queue he decided to sell the tea at half price instead.
Sales Broken Down
- 20% of Sales come from direct selling to Restaurants.
- 20% from Wholesalers.
- 60% from Supermarkets.
Questions and Answers
What are your Sales like through your website?
Less than £5,000 is received from sales through the website.
What options do you have to expand the business?
- Float it on the Stock Market.
- Sell it onto a Tea Company.
- Would like it to grow through other Tea Products. (3 Year Plan to double output).
- Export to North America (currently £20,000 of sales a year) and Ireland.
How has the recession affected your Business?
It hasn’t affected the business, the business is seeing an increase of 34% in sales upon last year. It is a niche brand and people are loyal to the product.
Is your Product Patented?
It’s very difficult to patent this product as it’s a ‘blend’ of tea. The problem being that other businesses could change the blend ever so slightly so that it would taste the same but it would void the patent.
How many Manufacturing outlets do you have?
There are no factories or anything. The production is sub-contracted out to another firm. If you were to produce the product yourself it would be a nightmare with all the conditions you have to meet.
What is your Market Positioning?
We aim to sell a high quality product at a premium price. We allow supermarkets to make a good margin from what we sell it to them at.
Variable Pricing between Supermarkets?
They don’t want to sell the product at a low discounted price in certain supermarkets as this would damage the brand. However they sell to Aldi in smaller packs to make it look like the consumer is getting a cheaper deal. (packs of 40)
Future Product Developments?
Alan is currently looking into Roast Coffee in Pembrokeshire. Looking to launch this winter at the Royal Welsh Show. – Also looking into Herbal teas.
Also helping out a friend whose looking at selling W3 Water but in a Pouch from a Spring on her Farm.
The Rise in Price of Tea?
Alan said about the difficult meeting he had to have with a supermarket regarding the 23% increase in Tea. He went on to say that it’s really difficult trying to get them to pass this increase onto the final selling price of product.
Any Failed Products?
- Dutch Master Cigars – Unsuccessful
- Tried to Launch a London screensaver with pictures and sounds of London. – Didn’t sell any.
Meeting Preparation?
He said then if you’re ever going for a meeting with a big chain retailer such as Tesco that you should plan and have a calendar of what you hope to do in the future. Such as releasing a St Davids Day gimmick or promotion.
